Wolf
by Chakat StarDust
Summary: After an unlucky encounter Yoh is transformed into a werewolf. On the run from his family and friends, he seeks refuge with a young woman at her horse ranch. But will Hao's appearance spoil the new home he's made?
1. Chapter 1

Wolf: New story! Enjoy it! And I don't own anything but the plot and any ocs that choose to show up!

Two months, two months of quiet inner agony that Yoh had endured since the unconventional, unintentional conclusion of the Shaman King tournament; the conclusion that had let him to kill his own brother, Hao. Of course most people said good riddance, that he had done a good deed, and outwardly Yoh showed his usual carefree grin. But, on the inside, he was dying.

It wasn't as though he'd killed his brother in a fit of rage, or over something stupid, and it wasn't as though Hao had done nothing to provoke it. But, Yoh had only done what he did because it was the only option left, and every day he wished there was something else he could have done, to save his brother instead of damn him.

No one else shared this sentiment. Hao had tried to take the Great Spirit, and destroy humanity, so there were no tears over his death. Yoh kept his own feelings to himself, he knew they wouldn't have been understood. He did hope that Hao was alive somewhere, they hadn't found a body, or anything else to prove he was dead, so Yoh held out some hope, and hoped that someday he could apologize for what he did.

"Yoh, you have your 'Hao face' on." Amidamaru commented as they walked home from the supermarket with groceries. Yoh pulled a face at his guardian spirit.

"I know, it's hard not to think about it though." He sighed.

"You did what needed to be done." The samurai replied. "It wasn't the easy thing to do, but it was necessary."

"I just wish it hadn't come to that."

"Not many relish the idea of taking a life, but like I said, it was the only thing left to be done. You should not be so hard on yourself, it's not good for your health." Yoh smiled at him.

"Always looking out for me, huh?" He teased. Amidamaru smiled back at him.

"That is my job." Suddenly Amidamaru stiffened and stared at something ahead of them. Yoh followed his gaze and saw a man stagger out of an alley. He tottered unsteadily, looking a little lost and confused.

"Hey, are you alright?" Yoh asked, jogging up to the man. The man had stringy blond hair that was matted and dirty. He was wearing a muddy trenchcoat two sizes too big for his skinny little frame. He lifted his face and bared his yellowing teeth at Yoh. His eyes were hectic and bloodshot, slightly crazed. Whitish foam dripped from the corners of his mouth, mixed with something that looked a little like blood.

"Yoh, I think we should call for help now."Amidamaru stated nervously. Yoh turned to answer, and that was when the man attacked. With a surprisingly deep roar the man lunged at him, and latched his teeth into Yoh's shoulder, biting deep enough to draw blood. Yoh screamed and hit out at the man. His attacker yelped as he was struck, let go of Yoh and fled back into the alley.

"Yoh! Are you alright?" Amidamaru cried. Yoh nodded his head, holding his shoulder where he'd been bitten. He lifted his hand and grimaced at the sight of the bloody teeth marks adorning his shoulder.

"We'd better get home and let Faust have a look at these." He sighed, picking up the fallen groceries. He sighed again, seeing that the eggs had broken. Anna was going to give him hell for that. "Come on Amidamaru." The two of them plodded the rest of the way home.

"Where have you been?" Anna demanded as they got inside. "You should have been home sooner." Yoh put the groceries on the counter.

"Is Faust around?" He asked Anna, cutting off her tirade.

"Yeah, why?" Yoh showed her the wound on his shoulder. Anna's eyes narrowed, but that was it. She looked into the grocery bags and her eyes narrowed further.

"You broke the eggs."

"I dropped the eggs when the guy attacked me, I'm sorry, I was taken by surprise." _You care more about the eggs than you do about my well-being._ He thought reproachfully. "Faust?" He yelled.

"One moment, Yoh." Yoh waited for the doctor patient. After a minute the tall, deathly pale blonde stepped lightly down the stairs, his deceased wife Eliza, just as pale as he, following after. "You appear to have been bitten." Faust calmed observed in his soft, whispery voice. Yoh described his attacker as Faust disinfected and bound the wound. "He may have had rabies, I'll give you a shot to prevent you from getting it too."

Yoh sat quietly as Faust administered a dose of the rabies shot. He was feeling a little funny to be honest. His skin felt prickly and too tight for some reason, and his heart was beating a little too fast. "Probably shock." Faust said when Yoh told him how he was feeling. Yoh shrugged it off and went upstairs.

Not long after he'd gotten settled in, he heard the front door open, and his name being called. Confused he headed downstairs to see who it was. His face split into a wide grin at the sight of his entire family. "What are you all doing here?" He asked happily.

"We came to see how you were doing." Keiko replied, hugging her son happily.

"Making sure you were keeping up with your training." Yohmei added.

"You really think Anna would allow me to stop?" Yoh asked with a chuckle that died in his throat at Anna's glare. Yoh caught up with his family at dinner, chatting and laughing happily.

As the sun began to fall in the sky he began to feel peculiar again. His skin was prickling and it made him itchy all over. His teeth felt strange too, kind of itchy and sore at the same time. Mikihisa noticed him fidgeting uncomfortably.

"What's wrong Yoh?" He asked.

"I don't know, I've been feeling funny since I got bit by this weirdo earlier." Yoh replied. "Maybe I should go lie down." He stood up to go, and in that moment the sun finally dipped below the horizon.

Yoh felt his entire body spasm, and he grunted at the feeling. The prickling sensation on his skin intensified, as did the itch in his teeth. All the sudden he felt his body begin to contort, the skin being pushed out and the bones being reshaped. It didn't hurt, not really, but there was a feeling of aching pleasure as his bones snapped and reshaped themselves, and his body bulged and contorted.

Yoh fell heavily on all fours as his knees turned backwards and his feet grew wider and shorter. His face bulged outwards into a snout, and he found he could smell and hear a lot better than before. The prickling sensation resolved itself into long, dark brown fur sprouting all over his body and finally, his spine lengthened and ripped out from his backside, turning into a plumed tail.

The changes finally stopped, and Yoh could do little more than attempt to catch his breath and wonder what the hell just happened. He looked up, and found that his family and friends were frozen, staring at him with a mixture of horror and confusion.

Yoh couldn't see himself, but he could feel it. He had four paws attached to strong, long legs. He had a barrel-like chest and a long plumed tail. His ears were large and caught every little sound and his long snout had a nose that was particularly sensitive. Yoh didn't need a mirror to realize that he had turned into a huge version of a wolf, a werewolf.

Yohmei snapped out of his daze first. "Monster." He snarled, and signalled his leaf sprites to attack. Yoh yelped as he was smashed against the wall. He tried to cry out but all that came out of his mouth was a gruff bark. He watched in horror as the rest of them engaged Oversouls. Moving quickly he leapt through the back door, breaking it.

He charged through the backyard and jumped clear over the fence. Part of him revelled in the feeling of speed and agility his changed body offered, but the rest of him was in complete terror and anguish. He didn't look back, running as though the demons of hell were after him with the cold, full eye of the moon looking down on him.

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Wolf: Review plz!


	2. Chapter 2

Wolf: I own nothing!

Yoh ran and ran, not paying attention to where he was going, or what he was really doing. After a few minutes he slowed to a walk, not hearing sounds of pursuit. He looked behind him, but saw nothing but empty streets. The night was not dark to him, but nearly as bright as day, another benefit of this new form.

_Maybe I should go back. They can't really believe that I would hurt them, could they? If I show that I don't mean any harm, they'll understand. _With that happy thought in mind Yoh began trotting back the way he came. He noticed that he didn't even feel tired after his wild, panicked run.

He paused in the shadows outside the inn. He could see shapes moving within, and his twitching ears could hear what sounded like shouting, but he couldn't make out the words through the walls. He stepped out of the shadows and cautiously made his way to the door. Before he could get there though, a couple of leaf sprites attacked him, driving him back.

Yoh tried a couple more times, with the same results. Finally, Mikihisa barrelled out of the inn with his spirits ready for battle, and Yoh turned tail and ran, once again not looking back. He halted a few blocks away, because he figured that if he was a werewolf, he'd change back into a human when the sun rose, and then he'd be naked.

He crept quietly back to the inn, and lay down in the bushes across the street. He planned to wait until they went to sleep and was going to sneak into his room to get some clothes for himself. He hoped the sprites wouldn't be guarding the backyard, because that was where he was planning to make his entrance.

After about an hour, all the lights in the house went dark, and Yoh could hear no more noise from inside. He stretched himself out and then padded around the inn to the backyard, once again easily clearing the fence. He hunkered down in the grass, waiting to see if anything had seen his approach. When nothing stirred he crept closer to the house.

He leapt up onto the roof, a slightly harder task than the fence, but fairly easy all the same. He landed lightly and then crouched again, waiting for any sign that he had been detected. When nothing happened he slunk along the room to his bedroom window. He nosed his window open and dropped inside the room.

He looked around the room, heart squeezing painfully at the sight of all his worldly possessions. He couldn't take them with him, he could only stay a moment. He opened the drawers of his dresser with his teeth and took out a pair of boxers, pants, sneakers and a t-shirt. He carefully wrapped them up in one of his blankets and picked up the whole bundle in his mouth.

He quietly exited the room, making sure to close the window behind him as he did and leapt off the edge of the roof and over the fence. He trotted up the road cautiously, not liking the idea of some random person seeing him and calling Animal Control or something. He headed up to the cemetery, because that was the place he always went when he was feeling confused or upset.

He was confused momentarily when none of the spirits greeted him, but then remembered that to them he must just look like some big dog, carrying a bundle. They paid him no mind, going about their conversations and all else they did to amuse themselves. He trotted up the hill to where Amidamaru's grave marker was and lay down with a sigh.

He lifted his head, staring up at the star-studded sky. A meteor streaked past and Yoh childishly made a wish that in the morning all this would have been just a dream. Whuffling softly to himself he pulled the blanket over top himself and rested his head on his front paws. After awhile his eyes drifted closed and he fell asleep.

To be rudely awoken hours later at sunrise by his body contorting itself back into his human shape. Yoh stayed still until the aching pleasure-pain died away and then sat up, the blanket still covering his lower half. He felt sore and tired, but ignored the sensations in favour of finding his clothes and getting dressed.

As he pulled on his pants he heard a sound. He froze, crouching down and willing his breathing to be silent, so that he could hear. After a moment he realized he was hearing the sound of someone walking through the cemetery. Yoh crouched down as low as possible, hoping it wasn't one of his family, or friends.

"I know you're here. Come out, come out!" The mocking voice was familiar, though not one that he had been expecting, and it made Yoh shoot to his feet. He stared in shock at his brother, Hao, smugly smirking at him not ten feet away from where he'd been crouching. "Hmph, as if hiding could keep me from getting to you."

"I wasn't hiding from you, I didn't even know that you were here." Yoh replied, reaching down to grab his shirt. "What are you doing here?" He asked as he did up the buttons on his shirt.

"Funny thing. A couple of months ago my idiot little brother gets it into his head to stop my plans and kill me. It takes me some time to recover, and then I go find him to figure out just how to repay him for his deed." Hao replied, his voice idle. However Yoh could clearly sense the danger beneath his words.

"I'm sorry." Hao snorted derisively. "I really am. You may not believe it, but I never wanted it to come to that. I only did what I did, because there was nothing else I could do. I wasn't about to stand there and allow you to destroy billions of lives."

"They are worthless." Hao hissed.

"That's just your opinion." Yoh snapped back, pushing his feet into his shoes. He didn't have time for this. He didn't know if he was being searched for, and if they still wanted to hurt him or not. He knew the stories of werewolves he supposed, as well as anyone, and they were always described as mindless killing machines. Was that what his family believed he'd become?

He would try one last time. Maybe now that he was human again they would listen to him. "It's good to see you again, Hao." Yoh told his brother sincerely. "I'm glad you're not dead." This seemed to puzzle the elder, a fine wrinkle appearing in his forehead as he frowned just slightly. Yoh turned and jogged away, heading for the inn.

He was mildly surprised when Hao didn't follow him, but he figured that Hao had something planned up his sleeve, and was just allowing Yoh to squirm. Well, Yoh was already squirming, but for different reasons. He got to the house, but climbed the fence instead of going through the front door. He was just being cautious, in case they'd stationed something, or someone at the front door to cut him down on sight.

He was creeping under the window when he heard his grandfather's voice. "We all knew this day was coming." Yoh froze, barely daring to breathe.

"It just doesn't seem right." That was his father.

"He's Hao's other half, he's dangerous, we can't afford to have him live." Yoh clamped a hand over his mouth, stifling a scream.

"Then why did we allow him to grow up in the first place?"

"To defeat Hao. Now Hao's gone, only Yoh is left." Yohmei paused a moment. "I'd been looking for a way to break it to his friends, but this new development means that we have an excuse to get rid of him."

Yoh had heard enough. He crept slowly back to the fence and climbed over. He dropped down into the bushes along the street. He sat down and began to sob softly, feeling confused and betrayed. He knew people, most notably the X-Laws, regarded him as dangerous for being Hao's other half, but his own family? He just didn't know what to do anymore.

When he was done with his tears he stepped out of the bushes and began to walk. He had no idea where he was going, but he couldn't stay here, probably couldn't even stay in the city. After awhile he realized that someone was walking along side him. He looked over, and Hao smirked at him.

"So, on an errand for that icy fiancé of yours?"

"No." Hao must have detected something odd in the tone of Yoh's voice, because he paused and gave him an odd look.

"So where are you going?"

"I don't know, anywhere but here." Yoh answered without thinking.

"Ahh, so the pressure finally got to you." Hao laughed wickedly. "I always knew you'd crack under the strain." A hand descended on Yoh's shoulder and he reacted without thinking, grabbing Hao's hand and spinning to face him. He didn't know if it was wolf instinct, or the revelation of his family, or just the stress of the last day, but he got right in Hao's face and he yelled at him.

"You don't know anything! You think you're so high and mighty, but you are just as small as the rest of us. And you know what? Stay away from me, you got it? Stay away." Releasing Hao's wrist he turned on his heel and he just ran.

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Wolf: Review plz!


	3. Chapter 3

Wolf: I own nothing!

Eventually Yoh's run slowed to a trot, and then to a slow walk. He had to think, and it was no good dashing about like a madman. People might see, might talk, and then his family would know where he'd been, and he didn't want that.

He spared a single nervous backwards glance, but saw no one following him. It surprised him that Hao hadn't come after him after he'd yelled like that, but then maybe Hao was just as surprised as Yoh was about the outburst. Whatever it was, Yoh was glad Hao hadn't followed him and demanded to know what was going on.

"Enough with Hao." Yoh chided himself. He needed to think about what he was going to do with himself now. He couldn't go back home, and he feared staying anywhere in Tokyo, because they would find him. He carefully thought it over; if he changed with the full moon as everyone thought that meant that he was ok for the next month because last night had been the last night of the full moon.

He couldn't take a plane, he'd taken no money when he'd fled, and he wasn't about to risk another visit to the inn. His nose twitched as he thought and he inhaled a slight waft of salty sea air. An idea clicked in his minds. The docks were always crawling with ships heading everywhere in the world. He could take one to wherever it was going, and make a new life wherever that was.

The only hitch was how to get on one of the ships. He could try sneaking aboard, but the thought of having to evade crew members for up to two weeks just seemed too tiring to him. Perhaps he could get them to allow him passage in exchange for work. It was a bit of a long shot, but it was all he had to go on at this time.

He first needed to figure out where he was and how to get there. A nearby corner store was opening up for the day and he headed inside. Politely he asked the shopkeeper the best way to get the Aomi Container Terminal. The impatient shopkeeper rattled off a bunch of directions and then turned to complete his sweeping. Yoh made sure that he had the directions correct and then exited the store.

It would take him several hours to get there, but he wasn't about to just stop and take a break. He needed to leave as fast as possible. He shoved his hands in his pockets and began to walk. After a few hours he was hot, tired and hungry, but kept going. He stopped briefly for a drink of cool water from and outdoor fountain and then kept going.

He found himself grateful for Anna's relentless torture now, because it gave him the mental fortitude to keep going, even when his muscles were screaming, his head was pounding and sweat was pouring down his back, front and down his face. He wiped at his forehead, but it did little good.

The smell of salt was ripe in the air as morning slid into afternoon. Yoh's ears picked up the sound of quarrelling sea gulls and above it all the creaks, screeches and clank of machinery. He licked his dry lips in anticipation; he was getting close.

When he finally saw the chain link fence encasing the docks, he ran and fell against it with a sigh of relief. He stayed there a couple moments, allowing his abused body a little rest, before picking himself up and looking for a way in. He figured they probably wouldn't let him in at the gates; one little kid all alone, kind of suspicious, right?

Instead he looked for a spot on the fence where there weren't many security cameras, and there were no people working. It took about fifteen minutes of wandering, but Yoh did it. He climbed the fence, his tortured muscled protesting the whole way, and then dropped down inside the busy docks. All around him were huge shipping containers, some empty, some full of goods to be shipped to various locations both in Japan and around the world.

He had to pick a ship now. There were a couple berthed at the moment, but only one of them was showing signs of being loaded up instead of emptied. He headed for that one, keeping a weather eye out for any security guards or anyone else that might chase him off. Once he got to the ship he paused in the shadows offered by the towering stacks of containers, hoping, praying that he was not about to be sent away.

He trotted out into the open, nervously heading towards the gangplank. "Hey, kid!" Someone called. Yoh turned to see a big, burly man with a sunburnt face and big brown beard in a hard hat stalking towards him. "This ain't no playground, clear off!"

"Are you one of the crew of this ship?" Yoh asked, pointing up at the ship being loaded up.

"Yeah, what of it?"

"Do you need any extra help on board?" Yoh asked quickly. "I can cook pretty good, and I'm a lot stronger than I look." The man blinked at him and then rubbed at his face, sighing.

"You a runaway, kid?"

"What if I am?" Yoh asked with more bravado than he was feeling.

"Kid, either go back home, or go to the police, it's never as bad as it seems, you got it?" The man asked fiercely.

"Unfortunately it is as bad as it seems." Yoh sighed. "I can't go home, and I can't go to the police. I just have to get out of this place." The man looked him over, taking in the desperation in his eyes, the sweat-soaked clothing and slightly shaking body.

"Kid, you got anything besides the clothes on your back?" He asked. "Passport, ID, money?" Yoh shook his head. "We're headed to Vancouver, you're not going to get far without any of that."

"I'm resourceful, I'll survive." Yoh replied fiercely. The man cocked his head at him, giving him a hard stare.

"Not going to give up, are you? Bet if you can't get passage as part of the crew you'd try to sneak aboard somehow." He mused and then sighed. "Well kid, as long as you're not going to let up on me, I suppose I should let you come to keep my conscience clear." His lips twitched in a small smile as Yoh grinned. "My name is Mikey, what's yours, kid?"

"Yoh." Yoh replied, not even considering it might have been better to use a false name.

"Alright Yoh, I'm going to introduce you to the kitchen, since I've decided that's where you'll be working." Mikey paused. "If you haven't already guessed, I'm the captain of this ship. She's called the Narwhal."

"The Narwhal." Yoh repeated, following Mikey up the gangplank. A couple of crew members stared at them curiously as they walked past until Mikey barked at them to get back to work. Yoh followed Mikey into the bowels of the ship to a fairly messy kitchen.

"Pierre? Pierre!" A skinny man with a messy mop of blonde hair emerged from within the kitchen.

"What?" Pierre asked in a light French accent.

"I got a helper for you. Says he's willing to do what you want him to do." Mikey replied. Pierre gave Yoh a dubious stare. "Hey, don't look like that. At least you've got some help now, at least until we make port in Vancouver, then we'll actually be able to hire someone. His assistant caught swine flu and we had to leave him in Hawaii on our way over here." Mikey explained to Yoh. Yoh winced in sympathy. "Let him get some rest before you put him to work." Mikey ordered Pierre.

Pierre gestured to Yoh as Mikey left. "Ugh, what have you been doing, bathing in dirty gym socks?" Pierre asked.

"I walked here, it took awhile." Yoh replied. "My name is Yoh, by the way."

"Pleasure." Pierre led Yoh to a small bedroom with a cot adjoining the kitchen. "This was my assistant's room, don't worry, it's been disinfected." Yoh went and laid down on the cot. "I'll put you to work once we've left dock. It will keep your mind off the seasickness." Yoh nodded and then fell into a deep, exhausted, dreamless sleep.

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"Hey kid, wake up." Yoh awoke to the sensation of someone shaking his shoulder. He turned over and saw Mikey standing over him with a pile of clothes. "Got these from some of the guys, some of it might be a little big, but it's better than wearing those sweat-encrusted clothes." Yoh looked down at himself and nodded. "There's a shower down the hall, go use it."

Yoh didn't have to be told twice. It was a communal shower, and the soap was just there for all to use. Yoh scrubbed away all the dried sweat and allowed himself to breathe a sigh of relief. He was going, he was getting away. He took a good look at himself in the mirror before putting on his clothes, noticing that the canines in his upper and lower lip had become longer and pointed.

An hour later found Yoh cleaning up the kitchen while Pierre started on dinner as the Narwhal left port. "It's hard to keep this place clean when there's only one of you, you know?" Pierre stated. "There's only so much one man can do in a day."

"Yeah, I understand." Yoh replied, mopping the floor while trying to quell his nausea. Pierre took one look at his greenish face and chuckled.

"Ah, you'll get used to the feeling soon enough."

"I sure hope so, although with my stomach feeling like it's flipping upside down, at least I've lost my appetite."

"You don't want to eat, trust me, until you have your sea legs, anything that goes down, will come up." Pierre stated with a sage nod of his head. Yoh nodded his head and went back to his work, thinking to himself.

All his life he'd had his destiny planned out, everyone had a plan for him. Now, he was on his own, with no idea what was coming next, where he was going to go or what he was going to do. He was in control for the first time in his life and while the concept scared him quite a bit, it was also a very freeing thought as well.

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Wolf: Review plz!


	4. Chapter 4

Wolf: I own nothing!

Yoh wobbled on his feet as he felt the massive ship come to a complete stop for the first time in days. "What's happening?" He asked Pierre as he finished with the dishes.

"We're in Honolulu, Hawaii, kiddo." The Frenchman replied. "We spend a couple hours here, refuel the ship and pick up a few more containers, then we be on our way." Pierre shrugged.

"And I'll be stealing your assistant to get some laundry done while we're here." Mikey huffed, stomping into the kitchen carrying two large sacks of dirty laundry. "Come on, kid." Yoh nodded and took off his apron, wiping his hands dry. Mikey tossed him one of the sacks and Yoh shouldered it with ease.

They walked off the gangplank and into the hustle and bustle of Honolulu. Yoh was impressed with the familiarity and friendliness of the locals. Mikey explained that the islanders were welcoming by nature and so it wasn't so surprising; he said it all with a world weary air. But Yoh gawked at the tall buildings, the bright blue of the ocean, the palm trees and the volcanoes towering up into the distant sky.

"It's beautiful." He breathed.

"Almost makes you want to stay, huh?" Mikey teased. Yoh shook his head reluctantly; the islands were too small to keep himself hidden. Mikey grunted and led the way to a small Laundromat in the downtown area. "You know, Pierre wants to keep you around, says you're a hard worker." Mikey commented as they watched the laundry go around.

"I'd love that, but I can't." Yoh lamented. He hated to think of what would happen if he stayed, and transformed, and was found. No, he had to go this alone, for now at least. Mikey looked at him and sighed slightly.

"Got a soft spot for kids like you I guess." The stoic man said. "I was a runaway myself. My daddy nearly beat the life out of me, and I finally had enough. Lived on the streets for a good couple of years before Child's Services caught up to me and put me in a home. The streets aren't very kind kid, and it's better for you if you got someone to look out for you and give you a dependable home."

"I can protect myself." Yoh murmured, not daring to look the man in his eyes less he be swayed to stay. "And I'll be ok on my own." He heard Mikey sigh again, this time in resignation. The two of them spent the rest of their time at the Laundromat in silence, neither knowing what to say to the other.

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Several more days later Yoh stood on the deck of the ship, watching the lights of Vancouver as they sailed through the bay to Port Metro. The large, sprawling city reminded him of Tokyo and his heart squeezed painfully, remembering all that he had left behind him. He had nothing from his old life, which would make it easier for him to make a new one.

Yoh swayed with the ship as it slowly ground to a complete halt. "Well, here we are, Vancouver. I suppose you'll be heading off now." Mikey stated, coming up beside Yoh.

"Yeah, thanks for allowing me to come." Yoh replied. Mikey hummed softly and took a creased envelope out of his shirt pocket. He handed it to Yoh silently. "What's this?"

"Your pay. You earned it." Mikey replied shortly. "It's not a whole lot, a couple of hundred bucks, but if you conserve it, it should keep you fed for at least a little bit."

"Thanks Mikey, that means a lot to me." Yoh said, touched by Mikey's concern. He shoved the envelope deep in his pocket.

"There's also my card in there, so if you get in trouble, you can tell them to get a hold of me." Mikey added. He turned away and Yoh thought he heard just a tiny little sniff. "If you change your mind about joining the crew, we make port every about once a month, going on a route from here to Tokyo and back every time. I'll tell the portmaster to keep an eye out for you, so you don't run out of here, okay?"

"Okay Mikey, I'll keep that in mind." Mikey rested his hand on Yoh's head for a long moment and then took it away.

"You'd better get going, huh?" Mikey said, smiling slightly down at him. Yoh smiled in answer, and impulsively held out his hand. Mikey looked at it in surprise, knowing it was not the Japanese culture to shake hands and then shook Yoh's hand gently. "You take care of yourself, kid."

"I will." Yoh promised, hefting the backpack he'd been given and trotting down the gangplank. It was just before dawn, and there was barely anyone about, except for the street vagrants, drunks and night workers of all sorts. None of them paid any mind to the young man that walked the slowly lightening streets. Of course in a city this big they would have seen others like him, desperate kids feeling like they had nowhere else to go but the streets.

Yoh had no intention of staying in the city though, and kept walking, and walking. He didn't know exactly where he was headed anymore, but he wanted somewhere that didn't have so many people, somewhere wild where he could run free without worrying about being shot or caught in any sort of way.

The mountains, perhaps, would be a good place for him. There were mountains somewhere in this area, weren't there? He looked to the north and saw a range of mountains, but shook his head. Too close to civilization, too many resorts there, too many tourists no doubt. He needed to walk until it was hours between a patch of civilization and the next, until the lights of humans no longer shone bright enough to blot out the stars.

He headed to the east. If his memory from his geography class was correct, the Rocky Mountains lay in that direction, and would be an ideal place for him to search out a suitable living arrangement. His stomach growled as the sun climbed in the sky and he stopped in a little diner, heading first to the bathroom.

He stepped into a stall and pulled the envelope from his pocket. The money inside was all Canadian currency and were red-pink or green in colour. Little numbers in the corner marked them with twenty and fifty. He wasn't entirely sure how much he would need for food, but he didn't want to be waving about a lot of money, so he took a couple of the twenties out and put the rest back in his envelope.

He ordered a platter of pancakes and some orange juice and sat down to eat. The food had been a lot less than what he had been expecting, and he discreetly tucked the remaining bills, one of which was now purple, and the coins into his envelope, hoping no one had seen. He ate at a languid pace, looking out the window at the city bustling. There was no hurry anymore, they would not have expected him to come all the way here after all.

%&%&%&%

His days settled into a predictable pattern. He walked alongside the roads, always headed east, during the day. By night he found a bit of ground, far away from the roads, in a forest preferably, to sleep for the night. He carefully guarded his dwindling pile of cash, allotting himself only a scant amount of food each day, to make up for the fact that he had no idea how long he was going to be searching, or how long it would take for him to find a proper job.

On the sixth day he found himself staring up at the Rocky Mountains, standing on their foothills. These mountains were jagged and snow-capped and there were so many of them. Japan had mountains, but not chains of them that stretched as far as the eye could see in either direction.

The fresh forest air filled Yoh with energy and he ran lightly along the side of the road, relishing the feeling of the grass beneath his feet and the sun on his body. He felt free, he felt alive and most of all he felt in control.

As the sun began to set he headed off the road into the forest. Clouds were gathering in the sky and Yoh gave them dubious looks, hoping that a storm wasn't heading his way. As he laid down in a small clearing however, the sky let out a soft rumble. Yoh sent a quick prayer that the storm would not come over his way.

A crack of lightening and an earsplitting peal of thunder answered his prayer and the skies opened up, immediately soaking him in cold rain. He yelped and got up, stumbling his way through the forest, hoping to find some kind of shelter.

Through a gap in the trees and the rain he thought he saw the gleam of a light and lurched in that direction. He found himself in a large field, the light coming from a house a couple hundred feet away. Alongside it was another building, this one dark. Yoh figured it had to be a barn and climbed over the wooden fence in front of him, sprinted across the field, back over the fence and opened the barn doors.

The smell of animals assaulted him as he closed the door back behind him. His night vision showed him that there were horses all around him. One of the horses awoke at his soft footsteps and snorted softly. All the sudden the horse began to whinny and buck, freaking out. The noise woke the other horses, who immediately began to freak out as well.

They must have been able to smell the wolf on him. That was the only explanation for their complete agitation. But, no matter the cause, Yoh had to get out of that barn before someone came to find out what was spooking the horses. He wrenched the barn doors back open, only to have the double-barrel of a shotgun thrust in his face.

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Wolf: Review plz!


	5. Chapter 5

Wolf: I own nothing!

"Keep your hands where I can see them." The person behind the shotgun growled. Slowly Yoh lifted his hands, showing he had nothing in them. "Throw down your bag." Yoh did as he was told, gulping slightly. The shotgun barrels were lowered to chest level as the person scooped up the bag and started to dig through it.

Now that the gun wasn't in his way, Yoh could see the features of the person holding it. It was a young woman, early twenties most likely, with short, dark brown hair, longer in the front than in the back. Her features were tanned, and a spray of freckles dotted her nose and cheeks. She was only about as tall as he was, but lean and muscular.

"Nothing in here but clothes." The woman mused in a voice a little lower than he expected. "If you're a thief, then you're a pretty stupid one." Yoh was beginning to shiver with cold by this point, but he couldn't put his arms down to try to rub some warmth back into his limbs.

"I'm sorry for disturbing your horses, miss." He said through chattering teeth. "I was just looking for somewhere to ride out the storm. If you'll give me my bag back I'll be on my way." He watched the woman's eyebrows lift in surprise.

"You'd go back out into the storm? For god's sake boy, you want to die of pneumonia?" Yoh shrugged his shoulders, still shivering. "Nah, you come inside the house, get warm and get some rest, than when the storm passes, you'll be on your way."

"Thank you." Yoh stuttered. The woman lowered the gun completely and smiled.

"Well, come on then." She said, heading back through the rain to the house. Yoh followed eagerly. The house looked like a typical farm house, with two stories. Once inside Yoh saw that the floors were all wooden, and the front hallway he was in held a staircase and two open doors leading off to either side.

"Well, you're younger than I first took you for." The woman stated, turning grey-blue eyes on him appraisingly. "You stay right there, I'm going to get you some dry clothes and a towel." She walked up the stairs, disappearing for a couple minutes. "Now, here we go. They might be a little big, they were my daddy's."

She handed him a fluffy towel, a pair of boxers, pants and a t-shirt. She had her own set of clothes and headed through one of the doors to change herself. Yoh rubbed himself dry while he took off his clothes, and put on the clothes he'd been given. He had to roll up the cuffs of the jeans, and the t-shirt hung sloppily on him, but they were dry, clean and warm, and that was all that mattered.

"You decent?" The woman called from the other room.

"Uh, yeah." Yoh replied, mopping up the wet spots on the floor with his towel.

"You can put your clothes over the kitchen table chairs to dry." The woman said, gesturing to the other open door. Yoh went in and found a modern kitchen with soft-yellow walls. It looked bright and cheerful. He carefully laid his soaked clothes over the chair. When he turned around his host was putting a kettle on the stove. "My name is Kat Blackthorn by the way." She said, turning to him.

"Yoh, Yoh Asakura." Yoh answered.

"Asakura? Sounds Asian." Kat commented.

"Japanese." Yoh agreed. Kat poured a mug of tea for the both of them and went into the living room. Yoh followed and settled himself into a brown leather armchair while Kat watched him curiously from a matching couch.

"So what are you doing way out here in the wild, Yoh Asakura?" She asked him. Yoh looked down at his cup, debating how much to tell her. He resolved to stick as close to the truth as he dared.

"I ran away from home, I couldn't stay there anymore, I feared for my life." He began. "I didn't really have a destination in mind, but I wanted to be somewhere out in the open, surrounded by wilderness."

"Well, it doesn't get much wilder than out here." Kat chuckled. "You don't have any ID at all?"

"No, I left with just the clothes on my back. I got some money that should last me a little bit, as long as I cut corners and don't use too much at once." Yoh replied. "Once I get a job somewhere..."

"Honey, you are going to have a hard time finding a job without proper ID." Kat interrupted.

"I'll manage." Yoh mumbled, looking down at his tea. Kat sighed and put down her mug.

"It's late and you look tired." She gestured for him to follow and headed up the stairs. She led him to a small bedroom with a woven rug, a dresser, a night stand and a bed with a patchwork quilt. Yoh walked over to it and fell onto it with a contented sigh. Kat chuckled at him.

"You act as though you've never seen a bed in your life."

"I've been on the road for the last little bit, sleeping on the ground." Yoh replied. Kat gave him a startled, troubled look.

"Well, that bed's yours for this night at least." She said quietly. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Yoh yawned and burrowed under the soft covers. The bed was a stark contrast to the hard ground that he'd been sleeping on for the last several days. The cozy feeling of the mattress and the blankets and the pitter-patter of rain against the window soon lulled him into a deep, peaceful sleep.

%&%&%&%

Yoh's ears heard the sound of sizzling, and his nose caught the scent of bacon frying, waking his mind and body up from its deep sleep. He sat up and stretched, enjoying the feeling of being fully rested for the first time since he'd run away.

He padded downstairs to the kitchen. "Good morning, sleepyhead." Kat greeted him cheerfully. She pushed a plate with waffles, bacon and eggs on it to him. Yoh dug in with relish, grateful for a home-cooked meal. Kat sat across from him with a mug of coffee and a plate of her own. She watched him speculatively for a couple minutes.

"You know what I do out here, Yoh?" She asked him finally. Yoh, his mouth full, shook her head. "I take people on horse rides through the mountain trails. Tourists mostly, sometimes business men on retreat, but that's why I keep the horses. It is difficult though to run this place on my own. Used to be family business, but..." She trailed off, looking down into her coffee. "What I'm trying to say here is, I could use an extra hand around the place."

"What? No, I couldn't stay here." Yoh stammered, a flicker of fear going through him at the thought of her finding out his secret. She was obviously no stranger to guns.

"Yoh, without a social security card, you're not going to be able to find somewhere respectable to work." Kat explained. "How old are you anyways?"

"Sixteen." Kat put a hand over her eyes and shook her head.

"You're so young." She lamented. "Yoh, the best you can hope for is something where you're paid under the table, and that's not enough to live on. You could wind up on the streets, in jail, or even get picked up by human traffickers." Yoh's head jerked up and he looked at her in horror. "Oh yes, and you're exactly what they'd want, young, handsome, untainted." She sighed.

"I couldn't impose, I mean, you're not rich or anything." Yoh replied.

"I might not be able to pay you any kind of salary, but between the trail rides and the money I make selling wood carvings in the local souvenir shop means I have enough to keep the both of us alive and happy." Kat responded. "Maybe it's fool of me to be offering lodging and food to a kid I don't know anything about, but I just can't stand the thought of a tender young thing like yourself getting hurt out there."

"You really want me to stay?" Yoh asked, not sure if he could say no this time, not when she was looking at him so worried. The look reminded him of his mother and his heart ached.

"Yes, yes I do." Kat replied without hesitation. "Not just because you don't have anywhere to go, but also because I really do need help around here. I've just been too proud to let anyone." She sighed sadly.

Yoh bit his lip, thinking to himself. It was wild here, there was plenty of forest. The sun did not go down until late, it was the summer months after all. He could stay, if only for a little while, until he found something else out. Kat would never know his secret if he snuck out before dark and slipped into the neighbouring forest. He could hide clothes for himself somewhere, so that he would not have to wander naked when the sun came around again. He finally looked up into her worried blue-grey eyes and smiled.

"Ok, I'll stay."

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Wolf: Review plz!


	6. Chapter 6

Wolf: I own nothing!

Kat's face relaxed into a relieved smile. "Alright then, first off, go have a shower and I'll show you the ropes around here." Yoh nodded and bolted down the rest of his breakfast. He'd been looking forward to a nice hot shower after days of washing up in gas station bathroom.

He turned on the hot water and stood under the warm blast, letting the dirt and sweat be sprayed off him to run down the drain. He spent more time than he really needed in there, just enjoying the sensation of hot water on his body. Eventually he reluctantly turned off the water, towelled himself off and grabbed some fresh clothes to wear.

"Ready to go?" Kat asked, dressed in a pair of jeans and a work shirt with the sleeves rolled up. She had on a pair of riding boots. Yoh was wearing something similar and took the boots that Kat offered.

"Yeah." Yoh replied eagerly.

"First off, I want to introduce you to the horses." Kat said, striding across the grass to the barn. "And then we're going to put them out into the field." Yoh was apprehensive about the horses, they had not reacted well to him the other night.

As soon as they stepped in the barn Kat was greeted by soft whinnies and nickers. As Yoh stepped in after her and his scent permeated the barn the whinnies grew a little more agitated. Thankfully, they were not nearly as loud or panicked as yesterday night, but that might be because they were confused by his appearance.

There were eight horses in total, in a random mix of colours and prints. "Alright, boys and girls, breakfast time." Kat called, filling a bucket with the horses' feed. "Yoh, walk with me." Yoh went and stood beside her as she filled each horse's trough with feed, naming them each as she went. Topper was a Appaloosa, Minnie was a little Paint horse, Aggie was a rose gray with a white star on her forehead, Dante was a blue roan, Sage was a dun, Jet was all black, Dancer was chestnut with black socks, and Jennie was a silver dapple with white stockings and a stripe down her face.

"I don't put saddles on them unless we're going out for a ride." Kat explained. "Some come by preset appointment, some just show up, and I don't put on the gear until they show up. Until then they are free to roam the field. Do you know how to ride, by the way?"

"Um, no, sorry." Yoh said, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. Kat merely chuckled.

"Ah well, I'll just have to teach you then." She said, not at all bothered by the idea. "I'll saddle up one of the horses for you once I get the others into the field and we can give you a lesson."

"Okay." Yoh stood aside as Kat led each horse by their halters out to the open field. Without exception each horse rolled their eyes and tossed their heads as they passed Yoh. They could smell it on him, the wolf. Yoh was worried about what was going to happen when he tried to get on one of these animals.

Kat left only Jennie in her stall, so that Yoh could have a riding lesson. "Now, I'm going to have you help me get her into her gear, so that you can learn to do it yourself." Kat stated, coming back into the barn. "Go and say hello, let her get to know you."

Yoh gulped and walked up to Jennie's stall. Jennie snorted and back up a little, ears going back. "Hey, Jennie, hey girl. It's all right, I'm not going to hurt you." Yoh put his hand out, like he would to a dog. Kat placed a couple cubes of sugar in it when she saw he was having troubles. Jennie's ears pricked back up and she moved forward to lip up the cubes in Yoh's hand. Yoh carefully laid his other hand on Jennie's nose. Jennie jerked a little, but didn't move away, exhaling soft snorts onto his hand.

"See, it's alright, girl." Kat soothed, patting Jennie's forehead. "The way you and the others been carrying in, you'd think you'd never seen a teenage boy." Kat opened the stall one-handed, burdened by a saddle, blanket and reins, and slipped inside, getting Yoh to do the same. Jennie shifted uneasily on her feet as he brushed up against her flank, but made no other protest.

"Okay, so the blanket goes on before the saddle, to prevent the saddle from chafing." Kat explained. "And then you put on the saddle, go around, never go right behind her, if you've got to move around a horse, move around their front or else they'll get spooked because they can't see you."

"Got it." Kat got Yoh to help her do up the saddle and then slip the reins over Jennie's head and the bit in her mouth.

"Now, hold the reins, just below her mouth, and the other end in your other hand. When you walk a horse, you walk beside their head, not behind it, not in front of it, okay?"

"Okay." Yoh took hold of the reins just as she said and gently tugged on them. Jennie began to walk and Yoh walked with her. Kat led them both to a corral neighbouring the field that the other horses were in. Jennie favoured them a longing look, but allowed Yoh to lead him into the corral.

"Oh, hold on, I should get you a helmet." Kat said, snapping her fingers. "Just lead her around the corral for a minute while I go grab you one." Yoh did as she said, slowly walking the willing Jennie around the corral.

"I know why you guys are nervous of me." He whispered to his horse. "It's because I'm a werewolf, and you can sense it. But don't worry, I won't eat any of you." He stroked her long muzzle with the hand holding the end of the reins.

"Alright, here you go." Kat handed him a helmet. He buckled it on tightly. "Good, good. Now, I want you to get up on the horse." She talked him through getting his foot through the stirrup and using the saddle horn to haul himself up onto Jennie's back. Jennie shifted about at his weight and snorted, but she didn't try to buck him off as he feared she would. "Alright, now, when you want her to go, you've got to lightly tap her sides with your heels and click your tongue."

Yoh did as she said and Jennie lurched forward. Yoh wobbled and grabbed onto the saddle horn. "Ah, don't do that, just keep your hands on the reins, back straight and you won't fall off." Yoh swallowed and let go, straightening his back. "There you go. Now, when you want to turn, you tug only the rein that is in the direction you want to turn, ok?" Yoh nodded. "Turn left." Yoh pulled on the left rein and Jennie turned slowly. Yoh felt pleased by the time Kat called for a break.

"How'd I do?" He asked eagerly. Kat smiled and laughed.

"Yoh, you are a natural."

%&%&%&%

Yoh fidgeted worriedly. It had been several days since he'd started living with Kat, and now tonight it was the full moon once again. He was glad of the lateness of days in June, which meant that he would not have to change until late and it would not seem so strange for him to retire to his bed early. He felt itchy and achy all over again, and knew that the change would happen soon.

"You seem agitated tonight." Kat commented, as she whittled away at a chunk of wood. From the look of it Yoh thought that she was creating a flower out of the wood. She was very talented at coaxing a new shape from wood and making it look real enough that it could be alive.

"I'm ok." Yoh replied. He really didn't want Kat to find out about his secret now. He liked it here. The horses were getting used to him, and while the work was hard and hot sometimes, it was nowhere near as exhausting as the torture Anna used to put him through. Kat treated him like a little kid sometimes, but she seemed to view him as sort of a little brother, which he didn't mind at all. "Kat, when I first got here, you said that this used to be a family business. What happened?" Kat looked up at him, set down her wood and her knife and sighed.

"My mama and daddy owned this ranch before me." She explained. "It was the family business, and we were good at it. But, about four years ago now, when I was seventeen, they got in an accident while driving home in a snowstorm. They both died, leaving me with the estate. I've gone it alone ever since, couldn't bear the thought of selling the only things I had left of my family, and like I said, too proud to let anyone else help, not that I had the cash for hired hands."

"I'm sorry." Yoh murmured. Kat sighed.

"It's all in the past, and it's not like you had anything to do with it." Kat answered.

"So, you've been alone since then?"

"Yup, guess that's why I talk your ear off sometimes and don't say a word for hours others. I'm not used to company, but it's nice to have it again." Yoh smiled at her and then gave a quick glance out the window.

"I'm going to head in, ok?" Kat nodded her head, absorbed in her whittling once more. Yoh headed up to his room. Closing the door he quickly opened the window and leapt down to the ground, sneaking off to the forest bordering the property. He found a small clearing, and as the sun began to dip below the horizon, he undressed himself, storing his clothes in a neat little pile under a tree for later.

He felt somewhat embarrassed to be standing there naked, but really, who was going to see him? And he wouldn't be naked for long. The change rippled through him and Yoh surrendered to the aching bliss that it brought.

He shook his pelt out, nose questing in the fresh forest air. He had time now to marvel at the scents and sounds he was able to discern now. His legs itched to run and so he did, confident that he would be able to find his way back to his clothes by scent alone. He ran and ran, not for his life this time, but for sheer enjoyment. He'd never felt so alive!

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Wolf: Review plz!


	7. Chapter 7

Wolf: I own nothing!

Three months passed uneventfully as Yoh worked on the farm, and the hot, hazy days of summer were beginning to melt into early fall. The air was starting to become breezy and the mornings were sometimes crisp.

Kat affectionately referred to Yoh as 'little brother' and treated him in much the same way. She found him to be an eager helper, and an intelligent conversationalist. He also had some talent with painting, and Kat dug her mother's paints out of hiding for him. She'd even managed to sell a couple of his paintings, but kept one that she loved, the image of lightening on the mountains.

If Kat was at all curious about Yoh's infrequent early bedtimes, she never said anything. Yoh was glad of this, and he found himself able to continue sneaking out to transform. He found himself looking forward to it actually, he enjoyed the feeling of being able to run without tiring, and his enhanced senses. It wasn't terrible to be a werewolf, he often thought, just somewhat inconvenient.

He'd proven himself to be a proficient rider as well. Jennie liked him the best, but the other horses as well had gotten over his scent fairly quickly. He didn't know whether it was the confusion between what they were smelling and what they were seeing, or if it was confusion on why he hadn't attacked them, but whatever it was, Yoh was grateful not to have to deal with fearful horses in his everyday life.

"Want me to take this group?" Yoh asked Kat, seeing a van trundling up the dirt road. Kat looked up from her carving, a bear, by the looks of things, and nodded her head.

"It's my turn to do dinner anyways." She said, yawning slightly. "So, it should be on the table by the time you get back." Yoh grinned and put his paints away, carefully covering his latest creation, a twilight garden of roses. He liked to create nature pictures the best.

"Welcome." He called as the visitors, a family with two teenage children. "You here for the trail ride?"

"Yes, of course." The mother said. "My this place is beautiful."

"It sure is." Yoh replied politely. "You folks can wait by the corral while I get the horses saddled up." He chose Topper, Jet, Dancer and Aggie for the visitors and Jennie for himself. He gave each of the visitors a helmet and got them to get on their horses.

The ride went as it always did. The kids complained at first, but at the first part of the trail, where a gently cascading waterfall ran right past the trail, their bickering turned to awestruck silence. The rest of the ride was peaceful, with Yoh quietly chatting about how some of the more interesting features on the trail came to be.

When they were done, Yoh had to brush down the horses. He saved Jennie for last, languidly brushing her coat while humming softly. Kat didn't mind that he had a favourite, Jet was hers, so she couldn't really complain. When he was done brushing Jennie she gave him a friendly butt in the side, and he cheerfully snuck her a couple sugar cubes from his shirt pocket.

He headed inside the house and was immediately assaulted by the rich smell of cheese, meat, spices and noodles. His stomach rumbled and he ambled into the kitchen. "How'd it go, little brother?" Kat asked as he sniffed around the kitchen.

"Good, as always, the waterfall gets them every time, doesn't it?" Kat uttered a hum of agreement. "Is that lasagne I smell?"

"It sure is, and it's almost done. You probably have time for a shower before, but make it quick." Yoh nodded and dashed upstairs, going through his shower in record time. He got back downstairs just in time for Kat to set the lasagne on the table. The two of them ate in comfortable silence.

"I wish I could send you to school." Kat said quietly. Yoh paused with a bite of food halfway to his lips and looked at her questioningly. "It's just, you should be in school, but you don't have records, or ID, and it would just be a nightmare."

"Hey, I've learned more here than I ever did in school." Yoh replied. It was true, he learned all about horses, and Kat had taught him how to make trail signs, and read nature in order to figure out where he should go. He'd learned about eagles, and bears, and wolves, and he'd learned how to tell if a storm was coming and what the clouds meant. "Really, living with you, I've learned a lot."

"Thank you. I always wanted to be a teacher." Kat said casually. "But it was either that or keep this place." She shrugged her shoulders, but Yoh saw a flicker of sadness for things that could have been. A dream never realized, but never truly regretted either, because Yoh saw that Kat loved this farm, and her horses too.

"My turn to do the dishes, right?" he said quietly, steering away from the subject. Kat nodded and stood up, putting her dishes in the sink. Yoh got to thinking as he washed the dishes. He had given up control over his life to make his family happy, allowing them to arrange his marriage, among other things, while Kat had willingly given up her dreams to preserve her family's memories. They weren't very different people in that respect.

Later on they sat outside on the porch, Kat whittling, and Yoh once again painting. His hands and arms were dotted with paint where he'd tested the colour and put his fingers in the wet. He'd always liked the arts, and he wondered if that came in part from Hao, who seemed like the artistic type to him always. He shook his head, putting thoughts of Hao away. He looked to the sun, and found it nearly touching the horizon.

He sighed to himself and began to pack up his paints. "Heading in early?" Kat asked.

"Yeah." Yoh replied, putting a cloth over his canvas.

"Goodnight." Kat said distractedly.

"Goodnight." Yoh went upstairs and closed his bedroom door. He was fortunate that Kat did not pry and so he didn't have to have a lock on the door to keep her from going in and seeing him gone. He slid out the window and onto the ground, heading for the woods in such a manner that Kat would not see him if she happened to look up.

He found his way to the clearing he'd used since his first transformation here. He kicked off his shoes, whistling, and just as he was going to unbuckle his pants, a voice spoke up behind him.

"So, this is where you've been hiding." Yoh spun around to face his smirking brother.

"Hao! How did you find me?" Yoh gasped. The elder twin leaned against a tree and his smirk grew.

"Admittedly, it was harder than I thought. I hadn't thought you'd leave Japan. I got a lucky break, heard some humans talking at the docks about you, and it was fairly easy to pick up your trail from there." Hao gave a nonchalant shrug. "Now, what should I do with you?"

"I think you should get out of here." Yoh replied, glancing nervously at the sun's position. It was nearly below the horizon.

"I don't think I should." Hao replied, having materialized right behind Yoh. Yoh jumped and whirled to face him. "I think I need to know why exactly you felt you needed to run so far away." Yoh backed up a little, he couldn't risk running, but he didn't want Hao to see.

"You should leave." Yoh said desperately. "We can talk later."

"No, we talk now." Hao replied impatiently. But the time for talk was done as Yoh felt the sun dip down. His body contorted, and for the first time, he tried to stop it. His eyes clenched shut and he thought he heard an exclamation from Hao, but his heart was pounding in his ears. The pain of not changing grew to be too much and Yoh finally surrendered to it, his clothes ripping as his body changed.

Only when the change stop did Yoh dare open his eyes. Hao was staring at him, his face neutral, but that didn't mean much. Hao took a small step forward and Yoh backed away, folding his ears back and growling at Hao. If he saw any sign of fire, he was going to run for it.

"Well, this explains why you left." Hao finally stated with his usual calm. "I'm assuming your family did not react well to your new look?" Yoh snorted and shook his head. "And that answers the question of whether you retain your intelligence, what little you possess."

Yoh's ears shot straight up and he yipped indignantly. He walked up to Hao and poked him in the side with his cold, wet nose. Hao smelled of cinnamon and smoke, an interesting combination that suited Hao well, or so Yoh thought. He didn't smell really any aggression on Hao, only curiosity. Yoh nudged him again.

"Stop that." Hao ordered, pushing Yoh's head away. Yoh playfully snapped at his fingers, suddenly feeling a little daring. He bounced out of Hao's reach, galloping around the clearing. He lowered his upper body to the ground, sticking his rear in the air, inviting Hao to come and catch him. Hao moved towards him and Yoh danced away, leaping about on the grass. Hao folded his arms and stared at Yoh, but Yoh could see a faint smile playing about his lips.

When Hao didn't try to chase him again, Yoh yawned and lay down in the grass, lifting his head to stare at the stars. He ignored the soft footsteps that padded towards him and the quiet thump as Hao sat down. He jerked as a gloved hand gently ran down the fur on his back. Yoh looked at Hao, finding idle interest on his face, once again no aggression in his scent.

Yoh had seen this quieter side of Hao before, but only ever at a distance, and certainly never towards him. It was kind of nice, having Hao's fingers comb through his hair and lightly scratch the base of his ears. The feeling, along with the sound of crickets lulled him into a peaceful state.

He must have fallen asleep at some point, because the next thing he knew the night was edging towards dawn. Hao was at the other end of the clearing, watching for the sunrise, Yoh padded over to him and woofed softly in greeting.

"Your family doesn't trust you anymore, you should come with me." Hao coaxed. Yoh shook his head and then arched his back as the sun made its appearance and he changed back into a human. Hao seemed to take no notice of this. "And what of that human you live with?" He asked as Yoh found the spare set of clothes he'd hidden for these sorts of purposes. "Does she know what you are?"

"No." Yoh replied shortly, pulling on his pants.

"I doubt she'd welcome you if she did." Hao said idly.

"She's been good to me."

"That would change, you'd see." Hao growled, a soft threat in his voice. "You can't trust humans, they turn on their own kind even at the slightest hint of anything different."

"Leave her alone Hao." Yoh ordered.

"Or what?" Hao demanded mockingly. Yoh snorted and turned his back, walking back towards the ranch. "When the chips are down, she'll betray you too."

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Wolf: Review plz!


	8. Chapter 8

Wolf: I own nothing!

Yoh trekked immediately to the barn, where he found Kat bringing out the horses to the field. "Go for an early morning stroll?" Kat asked playfully.

"Yeah, why don't I go prepare breakfast for today?" Kat nodded in agreement and Yoh headed inside, scanning the tree line for any signs that Hao had followed him. He saw no indication of the elder twin, but fretted anyways through making flapjacks for him and Kat.

Once Kat came in to eat, she noticed his fretfulness. "A little fidgety today, little brother." She commented. "Something the matter?"

"I'm not sure yet." Yoh answered truthfully. He wasn't entirely certain of his brother's intentions, but he was sure Hao wasn't going to let go that easily. "It just feels like something going to happen."

"Ah, like the feeling of electricity in the sky before the storm hits." Kat intoned. Yoh nodded his head. He picked at his food for a couple minutes more before speaking again.

"Kat, would you still like me, if I was different?" Yoh asked. Kat paused with her coffee mug halfway to her lips and gave him a confused look.

"Different, how do you mean, different?"

"Well, if I looked different, like really different, from other people." Yoh explained, squirming under her curious stare.

"You mean like a physical deformity?" For lack of a better word, Yoh nodded yes. "Yoh, I judge people not by their looks, but by their hearts. It would not matter to me if you were the most deformed person on the planet. You are funny, kind, helpful and loyal, and that is why I see you as a little brother, not because of how you look. Does that answer your question?"

"Yes, it does. Thank you Kat." Yoh said, cleaning up his dishes and heading out of the kitchen.

"You're welcome." Kat replied with bemusement in her voice.

Yoh went through the rest of the day on high alert, waiting for anything to happen. He was sure that Hao would not allow him to stay here, but also just as sure that he wasn't going to let this place go without a fight. Hao needed to learn that Yoh wasn't his to control, that he was his own person and not something Hao could use and then throw away.

He tried to think of ways to combat Hao, and started seriously thinking about finding a new guardian spirit. There were some animal spirits in the woods, he knew that, and some of them were fairly old. He could enlist one of them for help. He was sure if he would explain it they would be ok. He wasn't sure thought when he'd have time to go into the forest without possibly running into Hao.

He stuck close to Kat for the rest of the day, fearful to let her out of his sight for too long lest Hao try to do something to her. If Kat noticed his jumpiness and odd clinginess she said nothing, much to Yoh's relief. By the end of the day Yoh was in such a state of paranoia that he actually considered not sneaking out to the forest. But, that of course would present its own problems, and Yoh wasn't sure he was ready to show Kat, despite her words at breakfast.

He bid her goodnight and snuck out of his bedroom window, stopping only for a spare set of clothes to replace the ones he'd used today. He walked to the clearing, relaxing a little when he didn't see Hao immediately. He stored the spare clothes in a hole in one of the trees and waited for the sun to creep lower.

"Yoh!" He heard his brother's sharp voice call. Yoh turned around reluctantly and froze in shock and horror. Hao was dragging Kat along with him, his hand tangled roughly in her short hair. Yoh moved forward, intending to help, but Hao jerked his hand, making Kat grunt in pain. "You stay where you are, or I kill her right now."

"Hao please, she has nothing to do with this." Yoh pleaded. "Let her go." Kat's blue-grey eyes were wide and showed a mixture of fear, pain and confusion.

"She will show you just what I've been telling you all along." Hao hissed. "You'll see then." Yoh didn't have to guess what Hao was talking about. He meant to have Yoh transform in front of Kat, and prove that humans could not be trusted.

"Yoh, what's going on?" Kat asked, her voice quivering just the slightest bit. She refused to cry, or show fear, and Yoh's heart went out to the stubborn girl.

"It's going to be ok, Kat." He murmured, hoping to whatever gods were out there that it was true. He felt the ache in his bones spread and knew that it was close. He tried one last time. "Please, Hao, leave her out of this." Hao only growled at him, and tightened his grip on Kat's hair.

There was no use fighting the change and so Yoh did not. He didn't hear any screams through the sound of ripping cloth and snapping bone, but that didn't mean much. When the change was complete, he cautiously slid his eyes upward, but kept his head lowered. Kat was staring at him, mouth open. Yoh smelled a mixture of emotions, all swirling so madly that he couldn't get a real good idea of how Kat was feeling.

"See how much she likes you now." Hao snarled, releasing Kat and shoving her forward. Kat fell to her knees hard. Yoh moved forward, but then halted as Kat jerked back. He whined and stepped backwards, folding his ears back and tucking his tail between his legs. Kat squinted at him, looking him right in the eyes.

"Is that you under all that fur, little brother?" Yoh's ears perked up and he nodded vigorously. "Well, I guess I know why the horses were so spooked by you in the beginning." Kat stated, rubbing her sore head. Yoh wagged his tail tentatively and edged forward. Kat held out her palm and Yoh gave it a sloppy lick. "Oh boy, I could never be scared of you. You're a sweetheart with or without a fur coat."

Yoh's tail wagged harder as Kat began to scratch behind his ears. He favoured Hao with a triumphant wolf grin. Kat followed his gaze and her eyes narrowed. Faster than Hao could react she was on her feet and had slapped him across the face. Hao stumbled back and stared at her in shock.

"Just what the hell were you trying to do? Huh?" She demanded. "And what exactly were you planning on doing when you'd done?"

Yoh was worried that Hao would strike her down for her impudence and gripped the back of Kat's shirt in his teeth, tugging gently. When Kat turned to look at him he gently gripped her wrist in his teeth and whined softly, giving her a pleading look. Kat sighed quietly.

"Alright, let's go home." She said, rubbing his head. She gave Hao a hard look, and then started walking back to the house, Yoh trotting along beside him. "You know, when you turn back in the morning, I want to hear the whole story, you hear?" Yoh woofed in agreement and then turned his head at footsteps. Hao was following after them. "What do you want?" Kat bellowed when she noticed him.

"I'd watch your tongue, human. I might yet decide to kill you." Hao said dangerously. Yoh growled at him.

"Why haven't you done it yet?" Kat demanded.

"You have begun to intrigue me." Hao replied nonchalantly. Kat gave him a hard look, but said nothing else. They arrived at the house and Kat opened the door and ushered Yoh in. Hao stood on the grass, waiting. Kat rolled her eyes in disgust.

"Well, are you coming, or what?" She demanded. Hao smirked and stepped lightly up onto the porch and into the house. "Shoes off." Kat ordered, slipping her own boots off. Hao shrugged and complied.

"Quaint." He commented, stepping into the living room, where Yoh was lying on the floor. He looked around and his eyes focussed on the painting of the lightning-struck mountaintop. "Who did this?"

"That was Yoh." Kat answered. "Do you take coffee, tea or chocolate milk?"

"Tea." Hao answered, and then looked down at Yoh. "You did this?" Yoh shrugged his shoulders, but looked smug. "Never would have figured." Hao muttered. Kat came back in, bearing a mug of tea for him and a bowl full of hot chocolate, for Yoh.

"I do hope that this doesn't upset your stomach." She told Yoh, placing the bowl down in front of him. "But, you're smart enough to find a toilet to throw up in, if need be. Just don't spill any on the floors, okay?" Yoh wagged his tail and began lapping at the hot chocolate. Kat watched as Hao lifted a carved wooden horse off the hearth, examining it. "I did that myself. It's a hobby."

"And yet there are so few examples of your work."

"I sell them, a little extra cash for this place." Kat replied. "I'm not sure I got your name right."

"Hao. And your name is Kat." Kat nodded her head, eyes suspicious. "You are distrustful of me and yet you let me in your home."

"Mama always said to be polite, even when people aren't polite to you back." Kat retorted. "And better have your enemy inside where you can see them rather than lurking in the shadows where you can't."

"Interesting philosophy." Yoh lifted his head, nose twitching. He could smell the aggression leaving Hao, leaving wary intrigue. Hao was interested in Kat. Yoh could understand why; Kat had failed to do as Hao predicted, and what's more, had hit him when he thought she should be too afraid of him. Kat on the other hand was angry, and a little bit intrigued herself.

Yoh looked back and forth between them and then yawned widely. Kat chuckled. "Couldn't have said it better myself." She told him, giving him a pat on the head. "I suppose for tonight at least, you could sleep in Yoh's bed." She told Hao. "Will you lead him there?" She asked Yoh. Yoh sneezed and nodded his head. "That's my boy."

Yoh tugged on Hao's poncho with his teeth, getting the elder to follow him up the stairs. Hao looked around the small, cozy room and shut the door behind him. Yoh sat down on the rug and watched as Hao pulled off his pants and then his poncho. Yoh yelped in surprise at the sight of a long, nearly healed scar running from his collarbone to his navel. Hao followed his gaze.

"Yeah, you did that. Be proud, you actually managed to injure me." Hao said with a mixture of impressed incredulity and annoyed bitterness. Yoh walked up as Hao sat down on the bed and whined, resting his head on Hao's knee. Hao looked down into the earnest, apologetic black eyes. "Get out of here." He grumbled, pushing Yoh's head away.

Yoh yawned and padded over to the rug, walking in a little circle a few times before lying down, curled up. Hao shut off the light and settled into Yoh's bed. Yoh was almost immediately asleep, but Hao lay there, staring up at the dark ceiling, wondering why the human girl intrigued him so.

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Wolf: Review plz!


	9. Chapter 9

Wolf: I own nothing!

The soft sound of a moan drew Yoh out of sleep late in the night. He looked up, eyes glowing in the darkness, and saw that Hao was tossing and turning on the bed. The elder twin moaned again, and Yoh's heart clenched at the anguished sound. He stood up and padded over to the bed. Hao's eyes were clenched shut, and he didn't react to Yoh's soft nudge, telling Yoh that Hao was fast asleep.

Carefully, Yoh hopped up onto the bed and paused. When Hao didn't wake and instead let out a faint whimper, he delicately arranged himself around Hao's body and laid down so that his flank was resting against Hao's side, and then rested his head on Hao's chest. Gently he nuzzled Hao's cheek. The motions seemed to do the trick, because Hao settled down and did not make any more noise.

Yoh looked at Hao's face as he slept. In his unconscious state, the normal, hard mask that Hao wore beneath the cocky smirks and angry snarls was gone, replaced by a peaceful, open look that Yoh knew never saw the light of day. As he looked down at that face he wondered what had happened to Hao to make him the way he was.

Hao might have thought that Yoh was not very bright, but that wasn't true. Yoh was smart, pretty darn smart, but he came off as somewhat of a simpleton because he got distracted easily. ADD, the doctors called it, and said that he should be on meds, but grandpa had said that it was all nonsense. Yoh didn't mind, he didn't like the idea of having something in his system that messed with his mind.

Yoh had done a lot of thinking about his brother from the time that he found out that Hao was in fact his brother. He was good at watching, and listening, and he watched Hao as close as he could. He knew Hao was lonely, because despite Hao's careful guardianship of his emotions, sometimes the mask would slip and Yoh would catch a glimpse of forlorn pain.

Yoh wished Hao would give him a chance, a chance to show that he was his own person, not just some puppet Hao could control. Maybe that's what he could do while Hao was here. Of course, he also had to make sure his brother didn't kill Kat, but maybe, just maybe, Yoh could get past Hao's mask and find the real person beneath.

%&%&%&%

Hao felt oddly too warm as he woke up just before dawn. Turning his head, he saw why. Yoh's lupine body was pressed up against him, and his large head rested on Hao's stomach. Hao let out a groan and Yoh's ears twitched in response. Hao snarled at the younger as Yoh lifted his head to look at him blearily.

"Get off me." Hao growled in an aggravated tone, shoving Yoh off the bed. "What do you think you're doing?"

Hao sat up as Yoh flipped back up onto his paws. The light from the sun flooded the room and Yoh's body shifted back into human form with the series of sickening sounding snaps, crunches and other noises that the body should not make.

"Seeing as it's my bed, I think I have the right to do whatever I want with it." Yoh retorted as he finished changing. He turned away and pulled clothes out of the dresser to wear.

"Does it hurt? To change?" Hao asked, curious despite himself. Yoh turned and gave him an odd look.

"No, it actually feels kind of good. Before the change I feel itchy and achy and when I turn back human though my body aches, in a good way, for a couple of hours, so it's kind of a relief to change." Yoh explained calmly. He pulled on his clothes and headed downstairs without a backward glance to Hao.

"Can you put the horses out, little brother?" Kat asked as Yoh jumped down the stairs.

"Of course." Yoh replied eagerly, pausing to grab a few sugar cubes and putting them in his shirt pocket. He wandered outside and threw open the barn doors. As he was leading the first horse out, he saw that Hao had come outside and was now watching him from the porch. Yoh nodded at him and then concentrated on getting each of the horses out of the barn and into the pasture.

He saved Jennie for last and spent his time walking her to the pasture stroking her nose and scratching her forehead. When he closed the gate she went straight up to the fence and nickered at him. "What?" Yoh asked playfully. She nickered again and tossed her head. "What you think I've got something for you?" Yoh relented and ambled over to the fence, taking the sugar cubes out of his pocket. "There you go, a little treat for my special girl." He patted her neck and she butted him gently in the side before he walked off, heading for the house.

"Interesting little interaction there." Hao commented critically. Yoh shrugged.

"Jennie's my girl." He said simply. "I can introduce you to all of them later, right now Kat's got breakfast ready." Yoh pushed pat Hao and went inside, kicking off his boots. Hao followed closely after him. Kat favored Yoh with a smile and Hao with a wary, hard look. However, she remained polite and placed a plate of bacon, toast and eggs in front of both of them. Hao raised an eyebrow, a quiet criticism to a breakfast that he probably felt was poor fair compared to the traditional Japanese.

"If you don't like it, you don't have to eat it." Kat snapped in response to the look. Hao shrugged his shoulders and delicately took a taste of the eggs. While he made no compliment to them, he also didn't immediately condemn them either, which to Yoh seemed like a good sign.

"You're awfully rude, you know that?" Hao observed, giving Kat a small smirk.

"Ok, so you drag me around by my hair, threaten my life and you still expect me to be polite?" Kat snorted derisively. "You're either stupid, an egomaniac or delusional."

"What happened to 'mama always said to be polite'?" Hao demanded, throwing Kat's words from last night back at her.

"I meant that only in reference to you staying here." Kat retorted. "Now, Yoh, you going to tell me exactly what happened to you?" Yoh swallowed slightly and nodded.

"I think to do that, I have to start at the beginning, explain a bit about myself and my relationship to him." He said, jerking his head in Hao's direction.

"His interpretation of events is bound to be far different from my own." Hao interrupted indignantly.

"Well, I'm listening to his story right now. If I want your input, I'll ask for it." Kat replied. "Go on, little brother."

"Well, first off, I'm a shaman, which means I can communicate with spirits." Yoh went on to explain what that meant and then a little bit about the Shaman King tournament and who exactly Hao was. Kat watched him, her eyes guarded. Yoh wished he knew what she was thinking, but he could only press on and hope she didn't think he was crazy. Yoh paused to collect himself after finishing explaining about the battle between him and Hao.

"You know, you've never struck me as someone to kill anyone under circumstances." Kat commented in the silence.

"I'm not." Yoh admitted. Hao's eyes narrowed just slightly at that. Yoh looked him directly in the eyes for a moment before turning back to Kat. "The only reason why I did it was because there was nothing else left that I could do. I couldn't just sit back and allow him to kill billions, and well…" Yoh cast an apologetic look in Hao's direction. "I think that he'd temporarily lost it after I managed to escape being absorbed by him, so there was no way I could convince him to stop."

"So, you made the impossible choice." Kat speculated quietly. Yoh nodded his head miserably. Kat's eyes flicked to Hao and she noted a small crease in his forehead, the only indication of a frown of confusion. "Go on, Yoh."

"Well, after that we went home and things went as they always had. Then one day I was walking home and I was attacked by this guy who bit me and ran off. I think he had rabies because he was foaming at the mouth and his eyes were all red."

"Makes sense, and if he were werewolf he'd likely get the madness that animals tend to get with rabies. And in biting you he made you a werewolf."

"Yeah, I didn't know until the sunset, and then when I changed, I was attacked." Yoh traced random patterns on the table top with his fingers. "I ran, I feared for my life. Stayed in the cemetery all night, and then in the morning went back to the house to see if I could explain that I wasn't some mindless beast." Yoh then paused, his mouth working soundlessly and his eyes blinking rapidly. "I went back… and I heard them talking, saying that they were going to kill me anyways because I was Hao's 'other half' and I couldn't be trusted."

Hao was startled by this revelation, but he managed not to show it, at least until Yoh put his head down on the table and burst into tears. He could only stare, wide-eyed as Kat quickly moved her chair beside Yoh's and wrapped her arms around him. Kat saw him watching and gave him an accusatory glare. Hao was confused, until he realized that it was in fact his fault that Yoh's family was going to kill him. Unexpectedly he felt the barest twinge of guilt in the deepest reaches of his guarded soul.

Eventually Yoh's sobs quieted and he calmed himself down. "You ok?" Kat asked. Yoh nodded his head and snuffled a little. Kat pulled a tissue out of her pants pocket and handed it to him.

"Thank you, Kat." Yoh said, voice quavering just a little. Kat ruffled his hair fondly.

"Will you be ok if I go for a ride? I need to do some thinking." She asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." Yoh responded. "Do you want me to do the dishes?"

"That would be wonderful thank you." Kat replied. She stood up and put her dishes in the sink, heading outside. Hao followed after a moment and then watched as she saddled up Jet and rode off towards the mountain trails. Hao stood on the porch, leaning against the railing, just looking out at the scenery.

After awhile he heard Yoh come out of the house. Hao watched Yoh out of the corner of his eye, but Yoh didn't so much as look at him. Hao watched discreetly as Yoh pulled an easel with a covered canvas out into the open and sat down in front of him. Hao's curiosity got the better of him and he moved over behind Yoh to have a look at his work.

It was a mountain sunrise, with the sun just behind the mountaintop, making it blaze as though lit by fire within. He hadn't quite believed that Yoh had created such a piece as one in the living room, but here was the proof, right in front of his eyes. Yoh must have known he was there, but he seemed to be ignoring his older twin.

"I suppose you hate me even more now." Hao stated after some time. Yoh jerked and then turned to look at him.

"I don't hate you Hao. I never did." He replied, and then turned back to his work.

"That doesn't make sense." Hao retorted, confusion returning.

"Perhaps not to you." Yoh mused in reply, and said nothing more. Hao looked at the back of his head, waiting for something more, but when no more talk came he growled in frustration and stalked off, heading for the woods. _What exactly did Yoh mean?_

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Wolf: Review plz!


	10. Chapter 10

Wolf: I own nothing!

Hao found himself walking back out of the forest and to Kat's home at the same time that Kat was returning from her trail ride. Hao stopped to watch her as she rode Jet up to the gate and then dismounted with fluid ease. She led Jet inside and then took off his bridle, saddle and blanket, placing them all on the fence. She fed Jet a couple of sugar cubes before hopping the fence, taking the bridle, saddle and blanket and heading into the barn.

"So, still here, huh?" She called, seeing him as she re-emerged. Hao merely smirked in reply. She marched right up to him and stared up into his face, in her blue-grey eyes a mixture of hostility and curiosity. She seemed to be searching for something as she peered into his obsidian eyes. "Were you planning on staying, or are you going to hit the road again?"

"I think I'll stick around for awhile." Hao smirked, thinking that it would be easier to convince Yoh to come with him if he stayed. The decision had absolutely nothing to do with the human woman, even though he had quickly found her to be a fascinating creature. But, that was purely incidental to his reasoning, or so he told himself.

"I guess I can't really stop you." Kat sighed, looking annoyed. "I'll have to set up the guest bedroom and re-evaluate my budget I suppose." She grumbled. Hao gave her a sharp look, but she'd turned away already.

"I can pay for the privilege of staying here, if money is an issue." Hao offered. He wasn't entirely certain why he did, the human's issues were not his problem, but for some reason he felt uncomfortable thinking that his presence might bankrupt her.

"I don't need charity, least of all from you." Kat snapped, rounding on him in an instant. "I've kept this place going on my own power for years, I don't need help!"

"You sell Yoh's paintings." Hao pointed out.

"That's different." Kat snapped back, her narrowed eyes daring him to contradict her. Hao said nothing else, but instead shrugged and walked back into the house. He heard Kat grumbling to herself as she followed behind him.

"That's looking real good, little brother." Kat commented, looking at Yoh's painting.

"Thanks." Yoh replied. "Are you sure you're ok with us here? If I leave, Hao will follow, I don't want to put you in an uncomfortable situation."

"From what you've told me, he could kill me anyways, even if you did leave." Kat responded. "Besides, he kind of interests me."

"Be careful, he's dangerous, and unpredictable." Yoh warned, his brow wrinkling in a frown of concern. Kat ruffled his hair lightly.

"I'll do my best, but I can't promise that I won't try to rile him up just a little bit." She replied with a wicked grin.

"I guess I probably can't stop you from doing that." Yoh sighed. "I never knew you could be so wicked."

"That's because I care about you, and I'm real sweet when it comes to people I care about." Kat admitted. "You get someone I'm not so fond of and I can be a bit of a devil."

"And if you feel threatened, you get abrasive." Yoh concluded. Kat nodded her head and grinned.

"I don't think I've had this much excitement in years." She commented with a laugh before going to find her knife and a piece of wood. Hao made a reappearance some time later from the house and sat down in one of the chairs, alternately watching the scenery and Yoh and Kat. The two of them continued to ignore Hao, engrossed in their work.

Hao was unused to being ignored, and was unhappy that it was happening now, especially since it was his other half and this uppity little human that were doing it. But, as he watched the two of them, he realized that the two of them were not doing it consciously, but were simply lost in their art. Hao could understand that, he was an artist himself and remembered how absorbed one could become.

It was with this artist's eye that he took the time to really have a good look at the human that had begun to fascinate him. She had a small frame, but was lean and muscular from years of work. Her dark hair did well to frame and emphasized her small, narrow face. The light dusting of freckles looked like sprinkles of cinnamon dusting her light brown-sugar tanned skin.

He moved away from her face, regarding her body with clinical interest. She had small, but well-formed breasts and lightly curved hips. Like the rest of her, her hands were small, but Hao could see small scars and calluses adorning them. _Working hands_, he thought to himself. _But, also artist's hands_, he rectified, watching as her knife blade coaxed a bird's wing out of the wood she was working on.

He remembered the easy, confident grace with which she moved, completely at ease within her body. He envied that. His body was sixteen, and going through the changes to bring him to manhood, and as a result he felt awkward and out of place within his own skin, though he hid it well. He knew it wouldn't last, but it was still irritating.

"You got anything better than to stare at me?" Hao popped out of his musings to find Kat's blue-grey eyes watching him, narrowed in annoyance. He smirked at her.

"Do I make you uncomfortable?" He laughed. Her eyes narrowed further.

"I don't like being stared at, especially by an egotistical maniac." She growled.

"People died for saying less than that." Hao informed her.

"So, what are you waiting for?" Hao was stunned to say the least. This woman had to be frightened of him, and yet she was baiting him. She wasn't stupid, he could tell that much by looking into her defiant denim eyes, so why was she so determined to get under his skin.

"You're a very strange being." He commented, not really sure what else to say. She snorted and turned back to her carving. A sudden loud, obnoxious honk of a car horn made her jerk and slice open her finger.

"Shit." She muttered. She glared at the expensive-looking little car ambling up the dusty path. "Slickers." She said dismissively. "I'll take this one, little brother." She sighed, pulling a bandage out of her pocket and covering the small cut, before heading down the steps to greet the beer-bellied man and woman with a cell phone seemingly glued to her ear.

"What does she mean, slickers?" Hao asked Yoh.

"City slickers, basically people who've lived in the city all their lives and look down on those that choose to live out here in the 'untamed wilderness.'" Yoh replied with a faint shrug.

"And then why do they come here?" Hao questioned.

"They want to feel as though they're taking a 'walk on the wild side.'" Yoh snorted and then laughed.

"You lived in a city." Hao pointed out.

"Yeah, but I didn't think I was a cut above the rest because I lived in the city." Yoh replied. "That's what Kat can't stand, is that superiority some of these people ooze. She says she can tell a slicker just by looking at them now."

"Hmm." was Hao's only response as he watched Kat coax the cell phone away from the woman and both of the 'slickers' onto a horse and headed for the trails. "She has a lot of patience for something she doesn't like."

"It's people like them that pay the bills." Yoh revealed. "She doesn't have much of a choice, but yeah, she's very patient."

%&%&%&%

Yoh changed into a wolf in the comfort of his own room that night. Stretching languidly he padded back down the stairs and woofed to be let outside. Kat chuckled and opened up the door, wandering out onto the porch as Yoh took off like a streak of lightning, galloping over the grass and barking at the bats flying low in the sky.

"Still acts like an idiot, even as a wolf." Hao sighed, coming out onto the porch as well.

"Aw, he's just having fun. If I could do that, I'd probably do pretty much the same thing." Kat replied. "He's probably got a lot of extra energy to burn." She chuckled as Yoh rolled around on the grass, stalking a rabbit that had come out to feed.

"It still surprises me that you took this so well." Hao commented, raising an eyebrow.

"Yoh's still Yoh, that's the important bit. I'm not going to turn my back on him just because he wears a fur coat three days out of the month." Kat replied evenly. "I'm not that small-minded, and not as small-minded as you considered me to be, I should think." She smirked at Hao's blank look. "Someday I'd like to know what sparked your animosity towards humans."

"I doubt you'd be able to comprehend." Hao said in an acidic tone.

"Huh, and you call me rude." Kat muttered. Yoh bounced up and nudged her hand with his nose. Kat chortled and rubbed his ears while his tail wagged a mile a minute, hitting against Hao's legs. "You know what, I think I'm going to have to start calling you furball." Kat told Yoh and laughed uproariously at the indignant look on his face.

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Wolf: Review plz!


	11. Chapter 11

Wolf: I own nothing!

By the time a week had gone by Hao was more or less a constant presence on the ranch. He was persistently underfoot and for that reason Kat began to refer to him as 'Curious George'. Hao appeared to resent the nickname, but Yoh noticed that he never demanded that Kat should stop. In fact, Hao seemed to spend most of his time watching or talking to Kat.

Kat usually brushed him off, and Yoh thought with some amusement that it was that fact that was the reason Hao kept coming back. Yoh didn't think Hao had ever had someone who wasn't a complete enemy be so rude and abrasive towards him, and even his enemies feared him enough not to do it that much. Kat was a mystery, a puzzle to Hao, and Hao seemed to enjoy the challenge.

Kat was always the first one awake in the mornings, so when Hao came downstairs one morning and found no one in the kitchen, on the porch or in the barn, he was confused. "Huh, that's weird." Hao jerked slightly; he hadn't heard Yoh come up behind him. "She's usually up by now." Yoh murmured, looking around the kitchen.

"I overslept, sorry about that." Kat's voice was hoarse. The twins turned around to look at her in surprise.

"You don't look so good." Yoh stated. He was right; Kat's eyes were ringed with shadows and were bloodshot. Her skin was pale except for two spots of feverish red on her cheeks. She looked tired and miserable, and a deep hacking cough worked its way out of her throat as they stood staring at each other. "You're sick, you should go back to bed."

Kat shook her head stubbornly. "Work." She croaked.

"I'll take care of everything, you go back to bed, get rest. I'll bring you up some medicine in a little bit." Yoh replied sternly and her mouth quirked up in a tired smile.

"What did I ever do without you?" She sighed, reaching up to ruffle his hair. She turned and slowly made her way back upstairs.

After Yoh had checked on Kat, giving her medicine, and had wandered out to do chores, Hao went upstairs. He padded silently through the hall until he came to Kat's doorway. Kat was lying on her side, facing away from the door. The drawer in the nightstand beside her bed was open and Hao saw something glint in the sunlight.

Silently, he stole over to the nightstand and picked up the object. It was a photograph of Kat along with two older people, a male and a female. The woman had brown hair in a ponytail and was laughing, and the man had blonde hair and was smiling gently at the two women in the picture.

"Who is this?" Hao demanded. Kat twitched and turned over to glare at him. Her glare grew even more pronounced when she saw what he was holding.

"Does the word privacy mean anything to you?" She demanded hoarsely. Hao lifted the picture out of her reach as she grasped for it. "Give it back."

"If you tell me who they are and where they've gone I will." Hao replied with a smirk. Kat's glare didn't waver and she was silent for a long, long moment.

"They're my parents, they're dead and it's all my fault." She finally said and then lay back down, turning her back on Hao. Hao was stunned; he'd assumed that like most people her age she had simply moved out and gone her own way. But, come to think of it, she'd never mentioned her parents, never gotten calls from them, so the signs were there, he just wasn't seeing them.

"Why do you say it's your fault?" He asked in a gentler tone than he'd ever used with her.

"I was supposed to get feed for the horses the day before, but I blew it off, so that day my parents decided to do it themselves." Kat murmured, hunching her shoulders. "It was snowing some when they left, but nothing major. An hour later we were in a full blown white-out. I couldn't call them, I could only hope they'd holed up in town when they saw it was getting bad. When the road patrol found them, they were frozen to death, and I was alone."

Hao couldn't find any words to say. Kat had curled up tight as she told the story, and now she just looked like she was trying to completely disappear. He looked at the picture in his hand and then carefully placed it back in the drawer, closing it respectfully. He looked once again at Kat's prone form, seeing her shoulders shake just the tiniest bit.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, and then backed out of the room, leaving her alone. He trekked downstairs, thinking to himself. Yoh wandered in and was about to go upstairs when Hao stopped him. "I think you should leave her alone for awhile." He said quietly. Yoh gave him a hard look.

"What did you do?" He asked in a warning tone not unlike a mother reprimanding a child. It might have been funny, except Yoh was completely serious and worried about Kat, and Hao had no idea how he felt about making her feel badly.

"Did you know about her parents?" He asked instead. Yoh's look turned slightly confused.

"Yes, she told me what happened." He replied. "She told you about that?" Hao nodded his head just slightly. "So she's upset now." It wasn't a question, just a statement of fact. Yoh looked at Hao, a contemplative, gentle look. "Are you hungry? I was going to make some soup for lunch." Hao was startled by the change in conversation, though he did a good job of not showing it.

"Sure." Hao followed Yoh into the kitchen, and watched him prepare the soup. He does it from scratch, chopping the vegetables, putting in the chicken, all that, on his own. Hao wasn't watching that though, he watched Yoh's posture, and his body language. Yoh was relaxed, totally and completely relaxed. He exuded a quiet confidence that hadn't been there before... or perhaps Hao had just never seen it.

How much did he really know about Yoh? He'd always thought of him as simply an extension of himself, but if that were the case, Yoh would not have been able to escape from being absorbed. No, as crazy as it seemed Hao was having to admit that Yoh was something more than just another half.

"What?" Hao jumped out of his reverie to find Yoh staring at him oddly. "You've been staring at me for the last five minutes, what's on your mind?" Well, Hao wasn't about to tell Yoh that he might actually be changing his mind about him, so he lied.

"I was wondering how someone who's supposed to have inherited so much from me be so dim-witted sometimes." The look that Yoh gave him, hurt and confused, instantly made him feel worse than he already was, though he wasn't entirely sure why.

"I'm not stupid Hao, I just can't pay attention very well." Yoh murmured. "I have something called ADD, and it's very hard for me to concentrate once my mind has been distracted by something."

"Don't they have drugs for that kind of thing?" Hao asked.

"Yeah, but do you really think grandfather was going to go for that?" Yoh replied bitterly. "No, no, it was 'you're an Asakura. You can beat this thing without drugs or help'. Easy for him to say, his mind doesn't make him stare at something shiny on the wall while he's trying to take a test." Yoh sighed, shoulders slumping in what seemed like defeat.

"I'm going to take a walk." Hao sighed, getting up from the table. He needed to get away, away from the two people that he might actually be starting to give a damn about, and away from his own confused, conflicted emotions.

%&%&%&%

It wasn't until late in the afternoon that Hao decided to return to the ranch. He noticed that the horses were no longer out in the field. The barn door was slightly ajar so he headed that way. When he went inside he found Yoh in Jennie's stall, brushing her while humming softly to himself.

Yoh looked up as Hao cleared his throat. Hao held up another set of brushes, letting his actions ask the question. Yoh nodded his head and gestured towards Jet. Hao went into the stall and began to brush the large black horse. The twins worked in silence for awhile, but the silence did not feel awkward, instead it seemed quite peaceful to Hao.

"I didn't know, that you had ADD." Hao stated after some time had passed.

"There's a lot you don't know about me." Yoh replied with a faint shrug. "There's a lot I don't know about you, but that I'd like to."

"What? How to get as powerful as I am?" Hao snarled haughtily.

"No, I was thinking more knowing about the person you are. What you like, what you don't like, what your favourite food is, whether you can paint or draw or do some kind of art." Yoh explained, blinking benignly at Hao. "I am not an underhanded person, you should know that at least about me. If I tell you something, you can believe I mean what I say, right?"

"Perhaps..." Hao admitted reluctantly. "Why would you want that anyways though?"

"Maybe because I don't think of you as a monster like everyone else, and I know there's a person beneath that mask you put up in front of everyone else." Yoh replied. "And maybe I just want to get to know my brother."

Hao's brush clattered to the ground as he stared at Yoh in complete shock. "You're joking, right?"

"No."

"You've been saying for months that you want nothing to do with me, and now you're saying you want to get to know me? How messed up are you?" Hao demanded, voice rising enough to make Jet toss his head.

"Keep your voice down, you'll scare the horses. And it was your ideas that I didn't want anything to do with, not you." Yoh replied. "You're my brother, and despite everything you've done, I still care about you."

"Why?" Hao demanded weakly. "How could you possibly...?"

"It's been awhile since you've let yourself feel anything for anyone, hasn't it?" Yoh asked. "You don't understand anymore, but that's what brothers do, they care about each other."

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Wolf: Review plz!


	12. Chapter 12

Wolf: I own nothing!

"You've been avoiding me and Yoh for the last couple of days." Hao turned his head slightly away from watching the sun set on the porch to regard Kat with a blank stare. She shrugged at him, sipping from her coffee mug and leaned her back against the railing, watching him. "So, what gives?"

"Maybe I've just decided I want nothing to do with either of you anymore." Hao snapped, but his heart wasn't in it.

"You're still here, though." Kat pointed out. She searched his dark eyes for a long moment. "You're conflicted."

"Excuse me?" Hao asked, shocked.

"You're conflicted, confused. You're the type of person that likes to have everything under his control, and when it slips, that's what makes you nervous."

"You don't know what you're talking about." Hao denied.

"Oh, but I'm good at reading people. I have to be when I work with horses. I got to be able to tell what person is nervous in the saddle, which ones are confident, which ones are heavy handed, all that sort of thing, so that I can pair them with just the right horse." Kat explained. "So don't you be trying to lie to me."

"I'm surprised Yoh hasn't been pestering me about my silence." Hao said in favour of admitting that she might actually be right.

"He's giving you some space, out of respect." Kat explained.

"But you're not going to?" Kat smirked at him.

"You invaded my privacy so I figure it's only fair I get to invade yours." She replied.

"Should have known that was going to come back and bite me in the ass." Hao muttered. He refused to say anything more on the subject.

"Since I answered your question about my life, I think it's only fair that you answer one of mine." Kat stated idly.

"What question is that?"

"Why do you hate humans?" Hao silently stared at her, disbelieving. Her blue-grey eyes were frank and serious, curious. She said nothing, waiting for his answer, and Hao realized she wasn't going to give up until she got something from him.

"They've caused all this destruction to nature and to each other-" Hao halted his speech as Kat started shaking her head.

"Hate is always personal at its core." She informed him. "Something happened to you specifically to make you hate humans." Her eyes bored into his. "You can trust me, I'd never tell a soul if you asked me not to." Hao stared into her eyes, and found no lies, but a burning curiosity.

"My mother was a shaman, and she was killed because of it when I was young." Hao revealed slowly. "I suppose the seeds were planted then, but I grew up to become an _Onmyōji_, a professional and powerful shaman, you could say. I helped people, and yet, everywhere I went, no matter what I did, I was met with fear, and hatred."

"And eventually, you learned to hate them in return." Kat finished for him. Hao nodded his head vaguely. Kat was silent for a long, uncomfortable moment. "Do you hate me?" She finally asked quietly. Hao flinched just slightly; he wasn't really sure how to answer that question at all.

"I don't know." He whispered at long last. He didn't look at her; he just walked down the porch steps and headed out to the forest, not looking back. He walked quickly down the forest paths, tracing their paths with his feet and his eyes, not looking where he was going. He was so confused and frustrated, with both Yoh and Kat. Why couldn't they leave him be?

All the sudden he collided hard with something moving from the other direction. "Oh, geez, sorry Hao." It was the other person Hao had been hoping to avoid. Yoh blinked at him, looking genuinely apologetic as he untangled himself from Hao's body. Yoh offered a hand to Hao, but Hao pushed it away, standing up on his own. "Are you alright?" Yoh asked, looking at Hao closely. "You look a little... off."

"I'm fine." Hao muttered unconvincingly, turning away so Yoh couldn't see his face. He saw movement out of the corner of his eyes but did not react until a pair of skinny but muscular arms wrapped around his shoulders, his body pressed against Yoh's in an embrace. Hao went completely tense, too astonished to find anything to say. Yoh continued to embrace Hao, and slowly Hao relaxed into the touch. His body and soul craved the gentle hold, something he hadn't experienced for a long time. He hadn't known that he needed this, but now that Yoh was hugging him, he didn't want him to let go.

"What was that for?" Hao asked as Yoh pulled away. He yearned to grab Yoh back into the hug, just for the human contact. He thought that might frighten Yoh though, and it would shred what little dignity he had left at the moment.

"You just looked like you could use a hug." Yoh shrugged. "I'll bet it's been awhile since you've had one of those, huh?" Hao nodded vaguely. "I can probably guess why you've been avoiding us for the past few days. You've realized that you might actually like Kat."

"What? That's ridiculous! She's rude, abrasive, intrusive-"

"And one of the few people that treats you as a regular person rather than a god or a monster." Yoh interrupted. Hao shut his mouth and stared at Yoh. He was right, Kat treated him like a person, and he found it to be a welcome change from everything else he always had to deal with from people. With a start he also comprehended that Yoh treated him like a person too, despite all of the hardships Hao had put him through. "Kat likes you, you know." Yoh said idly.

"What? Really?" Hao was stunned. Yoh giggled at his dumbstruck expression.

"Yeah, you haven't noticed that her hostility has started to become teasing?" Yoh asked. "The fact that she gave you a nickname alone means that she's been warming up to you."

"Nicknames can be hurtful." Hao pointed out, feeling contrary.

"Only if they're meant to be. When Kat calls you Curious George, she shakes her head and laughs, not in a nasty way, but a kind, playful way. She's not trying to be cruel, she's just being funny." Yoh replied. "If you asked her seriously to stop, she would."

"How can you know you like someone after only a couple weeks of knowing them?" Hao was baffled, he was so out of touch with relationships, and he didn't know how they worked anymore.

"It doesn't always take long if you get a connection right away." Yoh replied. "You were both curious about each other and that's what set things in motion I think."

Hao thought about it for a long while. He had admired Anna for her determination and intelligence, and her unwillingness to be intimidated by him. It was only later that he became disillusioned with her heavy-handedness, selfishness and delusions of grandeur. But, Kat had shown the same qualities that he had admired in Anna, and so far none of the faults. She had other faults of course, she held grudges, she could be intolerant and she had somewhat of a temper, but they were nothing so detestable to him, he found.

"What if it goes wrong? What if you're wrong?" Hao asked.

"Then I'm wrong." Yoh shrugged. "You never gain anything if you don't take a chance, and that's in anything." Hao gave him a sceptical look. "I'm not saying go back there and confess your undying love, that would be too much like Ryu. I'm just saying you should allow things to progress between you and Kat, don't shut her out like you have with everyone else."

"Obviously that tactic doesn't work very well on you." Hao mentioned.

"I've got a special disposition." Yoh replied with a laugh. "Ren was the same way with me in the beginning." Hao thought about Yoh's friends for a couple minutes. They were loyal to him, willing to put their lives on the line, even without him saying. Hao's followers stayed with him out of awe and fear, and they had scattered when it looked like Hao had been defeated. Yoh's friends would have stayed with him even if he had lost.

"What are you thinking about now?" Yoh asked curiously.

"I was thinking about how I envied the loyalty your friends had for you." Hao admitted truthfully.

"Yeah, they were." Yoh replied, sighing softly. "Up until I became a furball, anyways."

"You never know, if you could get the chance to explain things to them, maybe they'll come around." Hao answered. Yoh gave him a wry smile.

"You sounded like me just then."

"Really?" Yoh nodded and laughed. The sound was infectious and Hao found himself laughing along with him; the first real laugh he'd had in a long while.

"It's been awhile since I've been able to just talk to someone, you know?" Yoh nodded his head again. "The last person I could talk to was Matamune."

"He was a good friend, wasn't he?" Yoh sighed, remembering with great fondness the cat spirit.

"The best and only." Hao remarked.

"Well, not only anymore. You've got Kat, and me, if you want that." Yoh said, looking at Hao hopefully. Hao recalled the feeling of peace he felt when his brother had hugged him, and his brother's gentle, caring manner towards him this whole time. His heart wanted to trust Yoh, but his mind was wary, fearful.

"I just...I don't know yet." He replied, shoulders sagging slightly. Yoh nodded his head, his dark eyes kind.

"It's ok, I'll still be here when you do figure it out."

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Wolf: Review plz!


	13. Chapter 13

Wolf: I own nothing!

"How about I make dinner tonight?" Kat looked up from her carving and blinked at Hao.

"That came from way out of left field." She commented. "What brought this on?" Hao shrugged nonchalantly.

"I've been pining for a traditional meal of the type that I'm used to." He replied airily. Not false, but not entirely true. He was starting to feel like a part of the ranch, and yet he did nothing to pull his own weight. It was starting to make him uncomfortable, and he wanted to thank Kat for putting up with him for the past couple of weeks. Also, he was just the tiniest bit hoping that he could impress her.

"Alright, so you want to make dinner. I don't think we have the ingredients you want though." Kat pointed out.

"I need to take a trip to town then. Would you be willing to take me there?" Hao asked. Kat looked him over for a moment with those bright blue-grey eyes.

"I do need to get a few things for the horses." She mused. "Alright, but you're going to want to change into something a little less flashy, or you'll scare the townsfolk."

"I don't have anything less flashy." Kat sighed loudly at him.

"So borrow something from your brother, you're the same size being twins and all." She told him in an irritated tone. Yoh got up from his painting and gestured for Hao to follow him.

"She's... impossible!" Hao exclaimed out of earshot of Kat.

"Would you rather have a quiet little mouse of a girl instead?" Yoh asked him, mouth quirking up in a teasing smile.

"No." Hao admitted grudgingly. He pulled on a button-up work shirt from Yoh and a spare pair of boots, taking off his normal shoes, his poncho, his gloves, his earrings and the red chaps over his jeans (that's what the red things over his pants are called FYI). When he was done Yoh looked him over with a critical eye.

"Huh, strange to see you looking so... normal." He commented.

"It's been awhile." Hao admitted, adjusting the cuffs of his shirt.

"What are you doing up there, checking your makeup?" Kat yelled out from downstairs. "The bus is leaving, better get your butt down here if you're coming."

"See? She's impossible." Hao shook his head, but Yoh caught the sight of the small smile on his brother's face as he headed downstairs. Kat was waiting for him outside in a beat-up, rusty pickup that might have been red once.

"It's not the prettiest thing on four wheels, but it gets the job done." Kat said in response to Hao's look. "Hasn't failed me yet." Hao hopped in the passenger seat with a little trepidation; the pickup looked as though it could fall apart any moment. With a rattle and a roar Kat coaxed the beast of a vehicle down the dirt path to the road.

It took them about twenty minutes to get to town, which really wasn't much more than a couple streets- worth of houses, a relatively large grocery store, a feed store, a church, a souvenir shop, a liquor store and a county jailhouse.

"You can go get the stuff you need while I get the feed. Do you need money?" Kat asked.

"No, I have money, this is my treat to you two, so it's only right that I pay for it." Hao said when it looked like Kat was going to protest that he was spending money on her.

"Alright, suit yourself." She grumbled, turning her back and marching into the feed store. Hao shook his head at her retreating back and went to find the items he would need. They met back at the truck a little while later and got going back to the ranch. Hao basically forbade either Kat or Yoh from entering the kitchen while he cooked.

In a little while they all sat down to a dinner of sukiyaki. "It's not going to bite you." Hao chuckled as Kat poked dubiously at the dish. "I was going to get chopsticks, but I wasn't certain if you knew how to handle them, so I didn't."

"Aww, that was very thoughtful... what's the matter, you sick or something?" Hao was about to retort when he saw the teasing glint in Kat's eyes. He merely smirked at her instead and sat down to eat. Despite her early scepticism, Kat quite enjoyed the meal and took a second helping.

"You certainly can put it away." Hao commented, watching her bolt down her food.

"Is there a problem with me having a good appetite?" She demanded hotly.

"I wasn't trying to offend you." Hao replied. "I find it ridiculous the lengths women go to look like the models they see on television, so it's... refreshing to see a woman with a healthy appreciation for good food."

"Good save." Kat sighed as she got up. "I'll do the dishes if you'll bring in the horses later, Yoh."

"Sounds good to me." Yoh replied, getting up to put his dishes in the sink. Dinner broke up and everyone started to scatter to do whatever.

"Hao?" Kat called as Hao was about to leave the kitchen.

"Yes?" Hao turned around, regarding her curiously.

"Thank you for dinner." Kat said. "That was really sweet of you to offer." Hao tried to hide the smile that tugged at his lips at her praise.

"You're most welcome."

%&%&%&%&%

Hao watched as Kat led each of her horses out into the field for the day. She had a steady, easy hand with them, and it was clear that the horses were devoted to her by the way they so willingly and eagerly followed commands. His eyes found her small, pretty face and he watched with jealousy as she smiled in love for the animals. What would it be like, to have that smile for him?

"What are you doing now, just standing there by the fence?" Kat called when she saw him there.

"I was just thinking that I've been living on a horse ranch for nearly a month now, and I've yet to ride one of them." Hao answered.

"Are you saying that you'd like to go on a trail ride?" Hao nodded his head mutely. "Well, it can wait until after breakfast, can't it? And I'd put on some normal clothes please, those lego blocks on your feet won't fit in the stirrups and that poncho of yours will just spook the horses."

"Of course." Hao replied. The two of them walked inside together to get breakfast and then get ready for a ride. When Hao got out to the corral Kat had Topper waiting for him.

"You know how to ride a horse, don't you?" She asked him almost as an afterthought.

"Of course I can." Hao replied haughtily, mounting Topper with easy, fluid grace. He smirked at her.

"Show off." Kat muttered, mounting up on Jet. She set the pace at a light trot and looked back only to ensure that Hao was keeping with her. Hao found himself staring not at the foliage, but the back of Kat's head, her tanned neck and slender body. When he caught himself doing so, he shook his head and looked around.

When they came to the waterfall he let out a faint gasp of wonderment. Kat, hearing the sound, turned to regard him with a smile. He reluctantly followed as she led him further down the rocky trail, wanting to watch the waterfall just a little while longer.

"This is why I love my home." Kat said quietly as they rode along the silent path.

"What?" Hao asked.

"All this." Kat replied, lifting a hand to move it in a wide circle, encompassing the stark contrast of hot sun on dark rock, the river running below them and the hardy trees that poked out of patches of soil and bare rock. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yes." Hao breathed, looking once again not at the scenery, but Kat, as her face lit up with joy. She was positively radiant. He was quiet the rest of the ride, contemplating Kat, what she might feel that their relationship was at the moment, and what he was finding he wanted that relationship to become.

When he and Kat got back to the ranch, he helped unsaddle and bring Topper back into the field. "You've changed since that first night." Kat commented as she shut the gate.

"How so?" Hao asked.

"You're kinder, calmer, but you're still a stubborn, egomaniac sometimes." She said. "But, I like that." She moved a little closer to him, staring up into his eyes. "You know, I never believe you're as old as you say, until I look into your eyes. They're ancient eyes, and sometimes I find myself wondering just what those eyes have seen."

"Many, many things." Hao replied softly.

"I'd like to hear about them sometime." Kat revealed. Then, ever so softly she pushed herself up on her tiptoes and brushed her lips lightly, briefly against his. Just as quickly as it came, the kiss was gone, and so was Kat, walking back to the ranch. Hao touched his lips briefly, staring at her back, and thought that maybe it was time to explore the possibility of love after all.

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Wolf: Review plz!


	14. Chapter 14

Wolf: I own nothing!

Kat went off later in the day to head into town, leaving the twins to look after the ranch. "So, what happened?" Yoh asked as they watched her drive away.

"What do you mean?" Hao asked innocently. Yoh chuckled softly.

"You've had this goony grin on your face ever since you and Kat got back from your trail ride, so, what gives?" Yoh prodded, elbowing Hao in the side with one bony elbow.

"She kissed me." Hao said delightedly. "Just a little peck, but it was still a kiss."

"Told you she likes you." Yoh said smugly. Hao chortled.

"I might have to listen to your advice more often." He looked at Yoh for a moment and then slung an arm around his narrow shoulders. "Otouto."

"Does this mean you've decided to take me up on my offer?" Yoh asked, wrapping one arm around Hao's shoulders as well. Hao leaned into the touch, resting his head against Yoh's.

"I guess I have."

%&%&%&%

Kat was just finishing up with her errands when she was approached by a tall blonde man in white and a little silver-haired girl in a long-sleeved, ankle-length dress. She raised an eyebrow at the strange manner of dress, but decided to be polite.

"Can I help you folks?" She asked.

"We were informed by one of the townspeople that you were seen with this man." The tall blonde said, holding out a picture. It was Hao. Kat wrinkled her nose and frowned slightly, she didn't like where this was going, and she didn't like the distasteful, superior way the blonde was looking at her dusty work clothes and beat up pickup.

"Maybe I was with him, what of it?" She demanded. The blonde glared at her and huffed, pushing his glasses up his nose.

"If you have seen him, or know where he is, you must tell us immediately-"

"Are you with the police?" Kat cut him off, annoyed with the demanding tone of his voice.

"Well, no."

"Are you with FBI, CIA or any other sort of government organization?"

"No, but-"

"Then I don't have to tell you anything." Kat snarled. "What I do, and whom I do it with, is my business, you understand?"

"You are making a grave mistake." The little girl said in a toneless voice. Kat grunted in reply and got into the cab of her pickup, locking the door when she was inside for good measure and starting up the dinosaur. It roared to life and she quickly left behind the strange pair, making a mental note to ask Hao about them as soon as she got home.

At the thought of Hao her lips curved up in a slow smile. There was a man that had seized hold of her interest in a way no other man had ever done. He challenged her, just as she challenged him, and was that which drew her in, along with his intelligence unwillingness to admit that he was just as interested in her as she was in him. The toned, muscular body was a bonus as well, but secondary to a personality that would mesh well with hers.

He'd finally stopped playing around and started courting her. His courting was subtle, but no less flattering and endearing. Too many men thought that courting was a rose and a date at a movie theatre and 'BOOM!', they had their ticket into the bedroom. She'd met too many guys like that, and so was wary of a male's intentions. But, it seemed like Hao was just as worried about a relationship, if the slow, roundabout manner with which he did things was any indication.

"A thousand years old, and there's still an awkward little kid in there." Kat muttered to herself, laughing a little. He was probably surprised right now that she had made the first definitive move to getting the relationship up off the ground. He would have gotten around to it sooner or later, he was foolish if he thought she hadn't seen the way he looked at her, but she liked to be surprising, and it was always fun to pull a fast one on Hao.

When Kat got back to the ranch, she immediately saw that Yoh had taken a group out by the number of horses still left in the field. Hao was sitting on the porch, still in the regular clothes he'd worn for the trail ride, and he seemed to have produced a sketch pad from who knows where and was currently sketching, his hand moving in soft, fluid motions as graceful as a dancer.

"What are you up to?" Kat asked as she exited the truck. The fact that Hao closed the sketchbook as she walked up to him made her sure that he had been drawing a picture of her.

"Not much." Hao answered. He watched as her blue-grey eyes narrowed and her head tilted; she clearly didn't believe him. "So, that kiss earlier..." He said nonchalantly, changing the subject. Her blue-grey eyes danced merrily as she smiled at him, a teasing, but affectionate smile that made his heart beat go into overdrive.

"What about that kiss?" She asked teasingly.

"Was that just another one of your games, or..." Hao trailed off as Kat's face turned serious.

"Hao, I may tease, taunt and badger you, but I will not play with your emotions like that, you understand?" He stared up into her grave eyes and nodded his head. He reached out and grasped her hand in his, slowly pulling her down into his lap. She arranged herself so that she was sitting crosswise against his body, and hooked an arm around his back to steady herself.

Neither of them said a word for a long moment, they let their eyes do the talking as they stared into each other's faces. All at once Hao lifted his hand and let it drift across Kat's cheek before cupping her chin in his hand. He lightly brought her face down to his and captured her lips in a soft, tender kiss. She tasted like raspberries, a sweet flavour with a tart bite to it, addicting and colourful. To her, he tasted like cinnamon-sugar and smoke, a sweet-spicy-bitter combination that made her head spin.

They parted when the need for air became too much, and they panted, noses touching lightly as they found the affection in each other's eyes. "Is this, do you think we're moving too fast?" Hao whispered breathlessly.

"They don't call it falling for nothing." Kat answered. "My parents were married less than a year after they'd met, and their love was true the day they married to the day that they perished, side-by-side in the cold. They were holding onto each other when they were found." She smiled sadly at the memory. "Oh, there was something I wanted to tell you."

"What's that?" Hao asked, sliding an arm around Kat's waist as she shifted once again.

"I met a couple people in town who were looking for you." Hao went tense and still at Kat's words. She felt this and her expression turned worried.

"Who were they?" Hao asked.

"I didn't get their names, but one was a tall blonde with glasses, dressed all in white, and he had a little girl with him in a dress with silver hair." She yelped as Hao jerked violently, nearly throwing her off his lap. His arm clamped tightly around her waist to keep her from falling.

"X-Laws." He whispered, unable to keep the mixture of dismay and annoyance out of his voice. "What did they say to you?"

"They asked if I knew where you were, but I basically told them to butt out." Kat replied. "Was that wrong of me to do?" She asked worriedly.

"I don't know." Hao groaned. "They could take it either way, but I think that Yoh and I should keep our eyes and ears open for the next little bit."

"Who were they?"

"They're a group of shamans that want me dead at all costs. They're not above killing anyone they feel is in their way, or are 'sinners'. It's all a bit cultish, with the little girl as basically their god."

"Creepy." Kat commented, nose wrinkling in distaste. Hao hummed in agreement and then the two of them watched as Yoh brought back the riding group from the trail.

%&%&%&%

The air was hot and hard to breathe, waking Hao up as he gasped for air. Disoriented, he scrabbled for the light, before realizing that he could see the room bathed in an orange-red glow. He looked out the window, and saw that the barn was on fire.

For a moment he sat there, stunned, before instinct grabbed him and he lurched out of the bed and into the hallway. Already thick black smoke was coiling up the stairs. Yoh stumbled out of his own room and together the two of them ran for Kat's room.

"Kat! Kat, wake up!" Hao yelled, shaking the still sleeping girl. Kat awoke with a start and gasped, immediately smelling the smoke.

"What's going on? Where's the fire?" She demanded.

"No time!" Hao barked, opening the window. "We're going to have to jump. I'll go first and then I'll catch you, ok, Kat?" Kat nodded and Hao leapt out the window, landing gracefully as a cat. Yoh jumped down beside him and then Hao held out his arms for Kat. She jumped down and then looked around wildly, catching sight of the burning barn.

"The horses!" She screamed, and lunged to go to the barn.

"No!" Hao grabbed her around the waist, pulling her back. "No, you can't! You'll be killed." Kat continued to struggle, up until an explosion rocked the barn, blasting one side to bits and sending burning shrapnel up into the sky. Kat screamed as though she'd been the one struck and collapsed to her knees.

Hao picked her up and the three of them ran for the forest, putting as much distance between them and the burning ranch before collapsing in exhaustion, coughing smoke from their lungs. "That was the X-Laws doing, wasn't it?" Yoh croaked.

"Without a doubt." Hao replied dully. Kat suddenly came to life in his arms, turning quickly and punching him in the jaw. Hao stumbled back, but Kat came at him again, pummelling him with her fists.

"You brought this upon us!" She yelled at him, continuing to strike at his chest and stomach. Hao stood there, taking the blows without complaint until she collapsed against him in weariness and uttered a keening wail of anguish that tore at Hao's heart. He wrapped his arms around her and rocked gently back and forth.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." He whispered over and over again. Kat's sobs quieted, but did not cease, after a long while.

"We need to get out of here, I doubt that they believe the fire killed you." Yoh murmured anxiously.

"No, it was meant as punishment for protecting me." Hao replied miserably. "I have a place we can go, and it's far away." He summoned the Spirit of Fire and they disembarked, leaving the burning wreckage behind them as they swiftly flew into the night.

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Wolf: Review plz!


	15. Chapter 15

Wolf: I own nothing!

Yoh must have dozed off some time in the long flight with the Spirit of Fire, because all the sudden someone was shaking his shoulder. "Come on, otouto, wake up, we're here." Yoh opened his eyes, finding himself on cold ground. A large, Victorian style house loomed up in front of him, and around, the trees of a fenced in yard rattled in the wind, their branches nearly bare of leaves.

"Where are we?" He asked groggily, rubbing his eyes and sitting up.

"England." Hao answered, lifting Kat's unconscious body into his arms and heading for the door the house. "I figured it would be far enough, and one of the last places they'd think to search for me."

"This is your house?" Yoh asked as they stepped inside, revealing a well-lit, elegant interior.

"Yes, I have several such 'safe-houses' in various locations in the world to suit my purposes." Hao explained, heading up the curving staircase. Yoh followed and watched as Hao chose a room and carefully laid Kat down on the bed, tucking her in before tenderly kissing her forehead. "I'm so sorry." He whispered.

"I don't think I can get to sleep for awhile, how about you?" Yoh asked quietly as Hao shut the door and left Kat to her sleep.

"No, I don't think I could." Hao agreed.

"I'll make some tea." Yoh offered. Hao nodded his head and followed Yoh back downstairs. Yoh set about making some tea while Hao inspected what they had stocked in the cupboards and freezer.

"Going to have to get groceries, get vegetables, fruit, meat, all that stuff." Hao commented as Yoh poured the tea. He sat down at the table, rubbing at his eyes and Yoh slid a steaming mug over to him. "Do you think she hates me now?" Yoh looked up at him, startled for a moment.

"No, no, I don't think she'll hate you." He soothed quietly. "I think she'll be angry for awhile, and you'll have to earn her forgiveness, but I don't think she'll hate you." Hao sighed heavily.

"For once everything was going right, and I was happy. I should have known it wouldn't last." He murmured darkly. "I guess I don't deserve happiness."

"Don't say that." Yoh chided, reaching out to squeeze Hao's hand gently. "You deserve to be happy as much as the rest of us. Don't blame yourself for the ignorance of others. They made their choice."

"But if I hadn't-"

"You can 'what if' yourself for all eternity and all it's going to do is make you depressed." Yoh interjected. "They didn't have to give into hatred, and they didn't have to create a twisted, cruel cult. That was not your doing."

"Maybe..." Hao replied doubtfully.

"You're not responsible for their actions, alright. Don't beat yourself up over this." Yoh pleaded. Hao gave him a wan smile.

"I'll try." He replied.

"That's all I can ask for, I guess." Yoh sighed. Hao looked at him speculatively for a few moments, sipping his tea.

"If this place proves to be a good refuge, we should think of putting you back in school, and maybe having you retested for ADD." He mused.

"But, don't I need documents and stuff like that for that to work?" Yoh asked in confusion.

"Yes, but I can make things happen if I want them to." Hao replied a little haughtily. "If we get you tested, it will mean that you would get extra help in your classes, make things a little easier for you. I also think you should take some art courses, branch out from painting." Yoh chuckled slightly.

"You sound like... well like a big brother that has to take care of his younger sibling." He stated.

"Isn't that what I am now?" Hao queried.

"Yeah, you are." Yoh said with an affectionate smile. Hao returned the smile, but then his face turned serious once again.

"You apologized for trying to kill me, do you remember that?" He asked.

"Of course."

"I think it's me who needs to apologize to you, for all the pain I put you through." Hao replied, his face bitter and sorrowful. "Between that and people not trusting you because you're my twin, it's a wonder you don't hate me."

"I could never hate you." Yoh said softly. "I knew that you were hurting, I don't know how I knew, but I did. You always seemed so lonely to me, and my heart went out to you." The tension leaked out of Hao visibly in reaction to Yoh's words.

"Thank you, otouto." He whispered gratefully.

"It's nothing, aniki." Yoh replied and then yawned. "I think I'm going to go to bed now." Hao nodded his head and pulled Yoh into a soft hug as he got up. Yoh leaned his head on Hao's shoulder, enjoying the feeling of still-tentative affection he felt radiating from his brother. "Goodnight, aniki."

"Goodnight, otouto."

%&%&%&%

Hao was up early the next morning making a list of the things they'd need from the grocery store. He paused in his writing at the sound of soft footsteps coming down the stairs. Kat walked past the kitchen, looking pale and unfocused. Worriedly, Hao followed her and found her about to go outside.

"Kat? What are you doing?" He asked. She turned to look at him, eyes half-vacant.

"The horses..." She croaked softly.

"The horses are gone, remember?" Hao reminded her gently. He watched in dismay as the last bit of light in her eyes left, leaving them dim and grey. Hao put an arm around her, steering her into the kitchen. "I'll make you some coffee, how about that?" Kat didn't answer him, nor did she make any move to take the coffee once it was in front of her.

"Hey, aniki, how's it going?" Yoh asked as he walked into the kitchen. He immediately sensed something wrong when he noticed Hao trying to coax an unresponsive Kat to drink the coffee.

"She won't respond to anything I do." Hao said sadly, taking Kat's hand and rubbing his thumb against the skin. "It's like she's retreated inside herself."

"She's trying to deal with her grief, everybody does that differently." Yoh explained. "She'll come out of it eventually, you just have to be patient with her."

"You think that something that we do could bring her out of it?" Hao asked.

"Possibly." Yoh shrugged. "But who knows what would trigger a reaction." Hao peered into Kat's dull eyes for a long moment before leaning forward and kissing her lightly on the lips. He pulled back, disappointed when he got no reaction.

"Damn." He said. "Thought maybe it'd be like Sleeping Beauty." Yoh managed to chuckle slightly.

"Kat's no princess." He said. The corner of Hao's lips curled up in a small smile.

"No, she's more like the dragon." He agreed. "A fiery, stubborn dragon with a heart of gold." He scowled then. "I can't believe the X-Laws would be so audacious as to use fire against me!" He growled.

"I think they wanted to send a message, that they're not afraid of you." Yoh replied. "Either that or they're just addled fools."

"I'd be more inclined to say the latter, but it could have been thought out as a way to put me on edge." Hao sighed. "Hopefully they won't find us all the way out here."

"Doubt it. They probably think you would have gone back to Japan, or somewhere close to the Patch village, knowing your history." Yoh replied. "But if they had any brains in their heads they'd realize that you are craftier than that and will try to be unpredictable. You are unpredictable." Yoh amended after a moment's thought.

"It is how I've managed to elude enemies in the past." Hao responded. "You don't get anywhere with strength alone, you need to be smart as well." He turned his gaze back to Kat. "The X-Laws aren't my problem though right now. The only thing I'm concerned about is getting my sassy, stubborn Kat back."

Yoh put a hand on Hao's shoulder, gently squeezing it. "That's what we both want."

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Wolf: Review plz!


	16. Chapter 16

Wolf: I own nothing!

Hao sighed, gently spooning another mouthful of oatmeal into Kat's mouth. It was the only way they'd been able to get her to eat in the four days since the fire. She wouldn't do anything unless physically prompted to, and her eyes remained as empty as ever. She hardly slept either, and her eyes were ringed with dark shadows, a stark contrast to her pale skin.

Hao found himself staying up with her those nights, trying anything to coax her to sleep. As a result he was tired and easily disoriented. Yoh tried to steer him away from any tasks that might result in him destroying the house because of this, like cooking. It was like when he was with Anna all over again having to do the work, but he didn't mind it this time. Hao was always grateful, and expressed true regret that he couldn't do more to help.

"Raining again." Yoh sighed, staring out the window. "Such a dreary place this is." Hao hummed in agreement as he wiped Kat's face clean and lightly kissed the tip of her nose. As usual, this action garnered no response and he sighed in disappointment.

"It's like the weather is reflecting our moods, isn't it?" Hao asked, lightly running his fingers through Kat's hair. He'd been too embarrassed to try and get her to take a bath, but he had managed to work out a way to wash her hair in the sink, so her hair was shiny and soft. Eventually, if this kept up, he'd have to get her a bath somehow. He blushed just thinking about it.

"We're running low on aspirin and cough syrup. I'm going to take a trip to the drugstore later to go get some more." Yoh said. Hao nodded his head.

"Don't forget that tonight is the full moon." He reminded.

"Of course."

%&%&%&%

Lyserg didn't mind the rain too much, as long as he had a good umbrella and slicker. He was a Londoner by nature, so the weather never bothered him. He whistled as he walked along, heading out to do his groceries, Morphine floating along beside him.

Suddenly he stopped and turned slightly, doing a double take. There was no way he could have seen who he thought he'd seen... but it was! Yoh Asakura had just walked out of the nearby drugstore and was heading around the corner.

Lyserg wasn't sure what to do. Yoh was his friend, but he'd gotten a strange call a few months back from the Asakuras, saying that Yoh had been turned into a monster, and that if he ever saw him, he should destroy him on sight. But...Yoh didn't look like a monster; at least the brief glimpse of him didn't show any signs of monstrosity.

Lyserg took out his dowsing pendant and called Morphine quietly to it. Morphine would lead him to Yoh, because in his hesitation, Lyserg had lost sight of Yoh and where he'd gone. The pendulum led him to an old but well-kept Victorian house covered with tendrils of ivy. Lyserg paused, not sure what to do next. If Yoh really was a monster, he might just drag him inside and finish him off.

"We're going in there." He whispered breathlessly to Morphine. She looked at him nervously, but did not protest. He snuck up to the door and opened it silently, stepping into the front hall. From the kitchen he heard running water. He peeked around the doorway and saw none other than Hao Asakura leading a young woman to sit in a chair with its back against the sink.

As she sat down he saw that there was something wrong with her eyes, they were empty, devoid of life. He watched Hao turn off the water and saw that the sink was completely full. Hao tipped her head back into the water, and that was when Lyserg moved.

"Unhand her!" He yelled, aiming his pendant at the fire shaman. Hao was taken by surprise and yelped when the pendant wrapped around his body, making him stagger back and fall onto his behind. Lyserg took out his gun, preparing to finish off his hated enemy before he had a chance to recover.

"Hey!" The sharp yell was accompanied by a hard smack to the side of his head, making him drop the gun and stagger sideways. He looked up in shock, seeing the woman standing in front of him, her blue-grey eyes blazing defiant anger, one hand still upraised. "Nobody gets to kill him except me, do you hear?" As Lyserg stared at her, open-mouthed, Hao began to laugh. The woman turned to glare at him. "What are you laughing at?" She demanded.

"You...are...impossible!" Hao gasped between chuckles. He untangled himself and stood up. "I should have known riling you up would bring you back."

"What happened?" Yoh rushed into the kitchen, hearing the commotion. "Lyserg? What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here?" Lyserg shot back. "And with him?" Yoh looked at Hao, who flinched and looked away at Lyserg's tone.

"I can explain." Yoh said, holding his hands up in a placating manner. Hao watched Yoh attempt to calm the British boy and slipped from the room, feeling his presence would only make things worse. He went into the living room and pressed his forehead against the glass of the sliding doors to the backyard, staring dully out at the rain.

"Hey..." A gentle hand touched his shoulder, making him turn. "Are you alright?" Kat's blue-grey eyes stared worriedly up into his.

"I should be asking you that, I think." He murmured, enfolding her in his arms and kissing her on the forehead. "I thought I'd lost you."

"I went away for a little bit." Kat said vaguely. "Did the same thing when my parents died. Only thing that snapped me out of it was that the horses needed me. This time... you needed me." Hao smiled and kissed her on the lips.

"I'm so sorry." He murmured against her skin. "I should have known I wouldn't stay hidden for long."

"Ah, I shouldn't have baited them either, but... they didn't have to go after the horses." She sniffed a little, blinking back tears and rested her face against Hao's broad chest.

"They don't care who, or what they hurt as long as they get to me." Hao sighed regretfully.

"I'm guessing the boy downstairs has some kind of vendetta against you."

"Yes..." Hao hesitated a moment, before coming clean. "I killed his parents." Kat's head jerked up and she stared at him in astonishment. "Do I disgust you now?" Hao asked, voice rough with pain. Kat shook her head.

"You've made mistakes, but you won't be doing anything like that anymore, will you?" Hao shook his head and kissed the top of her head. Kat sighed and leaned up to kiss him gently. "My beautiful, fucked up man." She murmured against his lips. "That's what you're so upset about isn't? That you killed the kid's parents."

"It never bothered me before, I never allowed it to, but... the look in his eyes was the same one you gave me when we ran away from the fire, agony and anger combined, and that struck me harder than anything else could have, that I had hurt both of you in the same way." Hao explained. "Does that make sense?"

"A little bit." Kat shrugged. "So, what are you going to do now?"

"I don't know." Hao replied helplessly. "I can't bring his parents back, and I'm not going to let him kill me, so I'm not sure where to go with this."

"You need to apologize." Kat stated. Hao gave her an incredulous look.

"How is that going to solve anything?" He asked.

"It won't, but it will help you deal with what you've done, and perhaps help the kid find some kind of peace with himself." Kat explained.

"I don't know..." Hao said, looking uncomfortable.

"It takes more strength to admit you're wrong than it does to admit you're right." Kat stated. "I think you owe this kid at least that apology."

"We may have to move again if Yoh can't convince him not to call the X-Laws, or the Asakuras." Hao stated.

"I think as long as I'm with you, I'm ok with moving." Kat replied, moving in for another kiss. As Kat's arms wrapped around his neck Hao surrendered to the kiss, and for the moment forgot that anything in the world was wrong.

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Wolf: Review plz!


	17. Chapter 17

Wolf: I own nothing!

"What's going on Yoh?" Lyserg demanded when Hao and Kat had left the room. "Why are you here? Why is Hao here? Who is that woman?"

"Lyserg, slow down, you're going to hurt yourself." Yoh pleaded. "Just... sit down and I'll explain, ok?" Lyserg's furious green eyes bored into Yoh's worried, gentle eyes and slowly he relented, stiffly lowering himself into a kitchen chair. Yoh sat across from him, still looking worried.

"Are they calling you a monster because you joined the monster?" Lyserg asked harshly.

"I didn't join... It's not that." Yoh sighed. "I have to start from the beginning, ok?" Lyserg grunted in reply. "I was bitten by a werewolf."

"Excuse me?" Lyserg gave him a disbelieving look.

"I'm not kidding. This crazy guy attacked me and bit me, and when the sun set, I turned into a wolf." Yoh responded. "My family, and my friends must have figured that I'd become some mindless monster and attacked me, forcing me to flee."

"But you weren't a mindless monster?" Lyserg hypothesized, picking up on the slight bitterness in his tone. Yoh nodded his head. "Why didn't you wait until you turned back human and explained it to them?"

"I was going to, and I was at the house, but then I heard my grandfather talking." Yoh hesitated for a moment and Lyserg saw a fleeting look of pain cross his face. "He said that they had been planning to kill me anyways, because I was Hao's other half, but now they had an excuse to do it."

"You're kidding me." Lyserg's voice was softer, horrified. He'd once considered Yoh might be an enemy because of his relationship to Hao, but it was preposterous. Yoh was one of the kindest souls he'd ever encountered and he'd been the one to strike the final blow... to little effect it seemed. Yoh shook his head miserably at Lyserg. "Is that why you joined Hao?"

"I didn't.. no, just listen Lyserg." Yoh instructed. "I left Japan, I went to Canada, figured they wouldn't think to look for me there. Kat, the woman you saw, she took me in, gave me a home. She didn't know at first what I was though, and I hid it from her out of fear." Yoh took a deep breath and then continued. "Hao showed up about a month ago. He saw me transform, but unlike the rest of them, he was calm about it. The next night he forced me to change in front of Kat, to prove that I couldn't trust humans."

"But she wasn't afraid." Lyserg guessed.

"Once she realized I was still me, she was fine with it, and she hit Hao for dragging her out there." Yoh chuckled at the memory. "Hao was intrigued by her reactions, and so he stuck around."

"He was interested in her?" Lyserg interrupted in shock. Yoh shrugged his shoulders.

"She was something different from what he knew. She was rude and abrasive without actually hating him, and she accepted me without question. Anyways, four days ago, something bad happened at the farm. The X-Laws found us, and to punish Kat for taking in Hao, they set the house, and the barn with the horses in it on fire."

"Horses?" Lyserg whispered. Killing people for believing in Hao was one thing, but wilfully, cruelly killing animals? That was too far in his opinion.

"Hao brought us here, thinking the X-Laws wouldn't think to look for us here. Kat took the horses' deaths and the destruction of her home very hard. They were all she had left of her family."

"What was Hao doing with her head in the water?" Lyserg demanded.

"Oh, he was washing her hair." Yoh replied. "Kat kind of went into a catatonic state out of grief, and she didn't do anything on her own, so..." Yoh chuckled. "I guess it was you attacking Hao that woke her up, huh?"

"Yeah, she smacked me over the head." Lyserg rubbed at the spot.

"That's Kat for you, she's a really sweet person, so long as you don't piss her off." Yoh explained.

"I'm still not sure I believe this whole werewolf thing." Lyserg grumbled.

"The full moon is tonight, you could stick around and see for yourself." Yoh offered.

"Stay in the same house as Hao?" Lyserg repeated incredulously.

"I can guarantee nothing will happen to you." Yoh assured him. "He's changed Lyserg. I don't think he's going to hurt anyone anymore."

"And that makes everything ok?" Lyserg demanded, glaring at Yoh.

"No, it doesn't." The quiet voice was not Yoh's, but it was familiar. Lyserg snarled at Hao as he walked into the kitchen. "I hurt you, in a devastating way, and that's not something that you should forget, or perhaps even forgive." Hao continued gently.

"Wha...what exactly are you saying to me?" Lyserg was completely bewildered. It was Hao in front of him, but he didn't act, or even really look like the Hao that he hated with a passion. He looked as calm as he did, but Lyserg could see nervous tension beneath the surface. And he was dressed normally! Something wasn't right here.

"Well, I guess..." Hao seemed to be struggling a little bit with himself. "I'm sorry, for what I did to you." He finally said in a bare whisper. "That doesn't make it alright, but I can't bring back your parents, and I won't let you kill me, I have some very important people to protect."

"You can't expect me to actually believe you, do you?" Lyserg stated after a moment of stunned silence.

"No, I don't. Not after all I've put you through." Hao replied. Lyserg was even more confused now. He couldn't think of anything to say, but he was saved from doing so by Kat wandering into the kitchen.

"Dinner time, my turn to cook." She said brusquely.

"Shouldn't you take it easy?" Hao asked, face scrunching a little in worry.

"I have been taking it easy, so easy I was comatose, for the last four days. Don't baby me." She growled lightly, tweaking his nose.

"Yes, ma'am." Hao replied smartly, smiling slightly to himself as he left the room.

"You gonna stick around Greenie?" Kat asked Lyserg as she looked for ingredients.

"I...uh...ok." Lyserg replied. Yoh had followed Hao out, and Lyserg chose to simply watch as Kat familiarized herself with a new kitchen. "Why Hao?" He asked after a little bit.

"Hmm?" Kat looked up from the pot she was filling with water.

"Why would you choose Hao? Don't you know what he's done?" Lyserg queried.

"It wasn't really a conscious choice, I mean, you don't choose who you fall in love with." Kat answered. "As for why I fell for him, well, that's like asking why I am the way I am. There are so many different reasons, and reasons we might not even know about."

"It just doesn't make sense to me." Lyserg sighed.

"Love, like life, doesn't always make sense." Kat stated. "My mama told me the first time she kissed my daddy, she just knew that he was the one. It was the same thing with Hao. You just know, because it feels right, like you've found the missing puzzle piece that you never knew was there." She sighed. "As for the second part of your question, yes, I know what he's done. But, I believe that people can change, and that they deserve, if they are willing to change, another chance."

"I'm not sure I believe that Hao can change." Lyserg retorted.

"You can say that, but the fact of the matter is, the Hao you knew wouldn't touch me with a 30 foot pole, and now he's, for lack of a better word, my boyfriend." Kat fired back. Lyserg could say nothing to counter this, because the brief moments of contact between Hao and Kat that he'd seen had been very... affectionate, something he'd never thought of Hao as.

Dinner was awkward. Lyserg didn't want to talk to Hao, and Hao didn't know what he'd say anyways to the British boy. Kat was quiet as well, her blue-grey eyes distant and melancholy. Lyserg watched Hao closely, seeing how he kept looking at Kat beside him, a faint frown of worry on his face. At one point Hao reached over and lightly placed one hand over Kat's. She looked at him and her brooding eyes softened a touch. Neither of them said a word, but Lyserg still sensed that they were saying something.

After dinner they all retired to the living room, to wait for the sunset. Kat sighed as she looked out into the driving rain. "No mountains, no sun peeking out from the mountains, not even a thunderstorm in all its glory. Just rain, rain, rain." She said dismally.

"When things settle down, we'll go back to the mountains." Hao said quietly, drawing her closer on the couch. Doubts about Hao's affection for her were quickly dying as Lyserg watched Hao wrap his arm around Kat's waist and hold her close, nuzzling at her neck and kissing it lightly occasionally.

Yoh fidgeted, feeling the change so close now. Lyserg watched him closely as he squirmed, uncomfortable in his skin. Yoh tried desperately not to scratch, because it would mean scratching all over. He wanted to chew on something, to make the aching itch in his teeth go away. Finally, he felt his bones beginning to stretch out of place and he stood up, surrendering to the aching pleasure of the change.

When he was done he trotted up to where Lyserg was sitting, a stunned look on his face. When Yoh got close Lyserg yelped and pulled his legs up. Yoh let out an indignant whine, and gave him a sad look. "Sorry Yoh, it's just so strange." Lyserg said, tentatively reaching out a hand. Yoh bumped the top of his head against the questing hand and Lyserg giggled a little when he snuffled at him lightly with his sensitive nose.

Lyserg smelled like pine to him, and a little like clean mud. It was a good smell, but overlain by confusion and anger. Lyserg was conflicted, though the confusion was greater than the anger at the moment, and Yoh took that to be a good sign. After a moment Lyserg sighed and got up.

"I should go, it's getting late."

"What are you going to do about us being here?" Kat asked, a little hostility in her voice. Lyserg paused and bit his lip.

"I don't know. I'm not going to involve the X-Laws, I made that mistake once, and I'm not going to call the Asakuras to come and kill Yoh... so I don't know." Lyserg murmured. Kat's eyes softened, and she smiled a little at him.

"Well, if you need some company, the door's open." She elbowed Hao in the ribs when it looked as though he would object and smiled a little wider. Lyserg nodded his head and headed for the door, finding himself even more confused than he was when he had arrived.

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Wolf: Review plz!


	18. Chapter 18

Wolf: I own nothing!

Lyserg didn't sleep well all night. His mind was buzzing and he had no idea how to feel. For so many years he'd hated Hao with a mindless passion, but now he was finding it disappearing, leaving him feeling empty and uncertain. His mind kept returning to the small displays of affection Hao offered to Kat and the look on his face when he'd apologized to him. It took some thinking for Lyserg to identify the expression... guilt.

When the morning came, he'd had hardly any sleep, and all he wanted to do was go back to that house and try to make sense of what was going on. It was only seven o'clock in the morning, but Lyserg still found himself trotting down the foggy, empty streets towards the house that Hao was living in.

He hesitated at the door, not sure if anyone would be up so early. He knocked anyways, knowing if he walked away now, he'd never come back out of cowardice. To his relief, a few moments later the door opened and Yoh, human once again, peeked out cautiously. He smiled when he saw Lyserg, and Lyserg noticed for the first time that his canines were pointed, and gestured him inside.

"Hey Lyserg, I'm happy to see you again!" Yoh said with his usual delight at meeting a friend. The familiar tones automatically made Lyserg relax and he fell in step with Yoh, whom he noticed seemed to be moving a little slower and careful than usual.

"Are you alright, Yoh?" He asked worriedly. Yoh blinked at him in confusion for a moment.

"Oh, don't worry. It's just I'm a little achy and tired after changing back into human, it's normal." Yoh said with a grin. They walked into the kitchen, where Hao was leaning over the stove and Kat was chopping up kiwi.

"What's Hao doing?" Lyserg whispered, apparently not quietly enough.

"He's making breakfast, because he's such a good little boy." Kat teased, reaching up to ruffle Hao's hair.

"Hey, hey, not the hair!" Hao protested, reaching up to comb his hair back into place.

"My god, you're fussier than me with my hair and I'm a woman." Kat commented with mock dismay.

"You don't have enough hair to fuss over." Hao retorted. "You're fussy about other things to make up for it."

"Oh am I?" Kat demanded. "Like what."

"Your work, the cleanliness of your home and the people in it." Hao answered.

"Cleanliness is next to godliness." Kat retorted loftily. Lyserg watched them go back and forth like this for a couple minutes.

"They're... very odd, aren't they?" He commented.

"They're just teasing each other, and neither of them is willing to admit defeat in this little war, so it could go on for a little while." Yoh chuckled, watching the two of them. The argument did end, with Kat shoving a piece of kiwi in Hao's mouth, silencing him. The two of them then ambled over to the table with a pot of oatmeal mixed with honey and cinnamon and a bowl of cut up fruit.

"Nice to see we didn't scare you away last night." Kat said by way of greeting Lyserg. "Wasn't sure we'd see you so soon, though."

"I just couldn't stop thinking about all of you here." Lyserg answered, taking a bite of kiwi. "I just... I can't wrap my mind around everything that happened last night."

"About me, or Kat and me, or Yoh?" Hao asked, speaking to him for the first time that morning.

"All of it, but mostly things concerning you." Lyserg admitted. Hao smiled wanly.

"You're not the only one." Lyserg gave him a confused look. "I've been experiencing emotions that I've kept repressed for years, it's a little unnerving, and I'm not sure how to deal with it."

"Huh, so you're Spock now?" Kat muttered.

"Who?" Hao blinked at her. She blinked back and looked horrified before lightly smacking him over the head.

"Who's Spock?" She repeated. "Boy, we need to bring you up to date on modern culture." Hao said nothing, just rubbed his head ruefully.

"What kind of emotions do you mean?" Lyserg asked him.

"Affection of any kind, regret, pain... the list goes on and on." Hao said in a subdued tone. "Because I never allowed myself to feel, I never felt any sort of regret or guilt for what I've done. Now that the barriers are down, I'm finding it hard not to be overwhelmed."

"And yet you're still hiding that you're hurting from us." Kat interjected, looking hurt. "Stupid, stubborn egomaniac."

"I know, I know." Hao placated her, gripping her hands gently. "I don't know anything else but hiding how I feel, so it's going to take time for me to become comfortable with letting my emotions out."

"Bottling things up isn't good for you Hao." Yoh added quietly.

"I feel like I'm in the middle of some intervention." Hao observed in a bemused tone.

"Should we haul you off to rehab then?" Kat joked, but then her face turned serious. "But seriously Hao, if there's something bothering you, speak up. People commit suicide because they have no outlet for their emotions."

"With the two of you hounding me, I don't think I could say no to that." Hao remarked gently. "Sorry Lyserg, we kind of got off track there, didn't we."

"No, I think that actually helped me a little bit." Lyserg replied. "For the last few months I've been trying to embody Yoh's philosophy, in that I was trying to live without hate. I don't like the person I became when I allowed hate to rule my life and lead me to joining the X-Laws." He paused a moment. "I don't think I can ever forgive you for what you did, but I can respect that you're trying to change."

"Thank you, Lyserg." Hao bowed his head slightly to Lyserg.

"You can smack him over the head if it'll help you feel better." Kat added cheekily. Lyserg recognised the tease in her voice and smiled in return. Hao just gave her a mock-pout and continued to eat breakfast. Lyserg met Hao's eyes, and for the first time in his life he saw not a monster, but a tormented man. He dropped his eyes, seeing an inkling of what Hao had gone through, and it was far too painful.

"I should go." He said regretfully. "I have schoolwork to get done."

"Will you visit again?" Yoh asked, cocking his head, looking like a curious puppy.

"Um, why don't I come back tonight? I can show you guys a good park and let you run around as a wolf." Lyserg offered.

"We'll have to put a collar and leash on him." Hao muttered. "Should be fun."

%&%&%&%

Lyserg returned just before sunset. Kat answered the door and all but dragged him inside in her excitement. She got him to sit in the living room with Hao while she attempted to destroy the impossible-to-open packaging enclosing Yoh's new leash in the kitchen.

"Are you sure she's grieving?" Lyserg asked Hao.

"Yes, she's trying to keep herself busy at the moment, because it's harder to remember that way." Hao explained. "Last night though I woke up to hear her crying and I sat up with her until she stopped. I'll probably do the same tonight."

"You... you really love her, don't you?" Lyserg softly observed, seeing the aching look in Hao's eyes.

"Amazingly, yes. Never thought it would happen to me." Hao laughed slightly.

"Where is Yoh, anyways?"

"He prefers to change in private, so that he doesn't rip all his clothing." Hao explained.

"Oh." Just then Yoh careened into the room, enthusiastically tackling his brother and attempting to lick his face off.

"Eww, Yoh, that's gross." Hao protested, shoving his furry brother off him. Yoh barked happily and bounced over to Lyserg, wagging his tail.

"Uh, hi Yoh." Lyserg giggled, patting Yoh's head.

"Alright, furball, now stay still." Kat commanded, coming in with the collar and leash. Yoh folded his ears back, but allowed her to put the collar on and clip the leash to it. "I know it's undignified, but we don't need you landing in the doggie jailhouse, now do we?"

Hao took the leash and headed for the front door. Lyserg took the lead and Kat took Hao's offered hand while Yoh pulled them in every which direction, trying to smell everything in their path. When they got to the park, they first looked around to make sure no one was around, and then let Yoh off the leash.

He took off like a rocket, running across the field and through the trees, just wildly running like there was no tomorrow. "Wow." was all that Lyserg could say.

"I know, he's got an insane amount of energy like this." Hao replied. Lyserg dug in his pocket and pulled out a rubber ball.

"I don't know if he'll play catch or not, but it might help tire him out." Yoh, seeing Lyserg doing something, romped over, big ears up and tail waving jauntily. "Yoh, will you play catch with the ball?" Yoh looked at the ball, cocked his head at Lyserg, and then nodded. Lyserg wound up and threw the ball as hard as he could.

Yoh galloped after it, tripping head over tail in his attempt to catch it. He brought it back and this time Hao threw it for him. They played catch until it grew very late, and then went home; a perfect end, to a good day.

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Wolf: Review plz!


	19. Chapter 19

Wolf: I own nothing!

Lyserg found himself returning to the house where Hao, Yoh and Kat were staying almost every day. Part of the reason was that he was still curious about the relationship between Hao and Kat, and the new relationship between Yoh and Hao. Lyserg noticed that Hao would go to Yoh if there was something he wasn't certain about, or if he needed someone to talk to, and he didn't think Kat would understand. They seemed to follow each other, if that made any sense, while Yoh deferred to Hao's seniority, Hao deferred to Yoh in matters of emotions.

The other reason why he kept going back was the simple fact that he was lonely, and wanted company. He'd not made many friends at school, they didn't get him like the friends he'd made during the shaman fight did, and they found him strange and brooding, and uptight. He wasn't really, he was just polite, while the other teenage boys were rude.

He lived alone as well, in a small apartment by the school. It wasn't odd then that he would seek out the warm and friendly atmosphere of Hao's house, then. He enjoyed Kat and Hao's playful bickering, and Hao's awkward attempts to rejoin the world of emotional relationships. It was odd to see Hao in such a manner, and it helped Lyserg to forget his anger, seeing him so human.

Kat would often help out Lyserg with his homework when he'd go over with it. She was a patient teacher with him and Lyserg commented on one occasion that she should go into teaching. She'd gone funny after that, going all quiet and then walking out of the room without an explanation. It was never really explained, but Lyserg didn't bring it up again.

In return for Kat's teaching, Lyserg would take her on tours around the city, trying to change her opinion about it being a dreary place. Kat was stubborn in her loyalty to her Rocky Mountain home and usually found something to pick at. Hao, jealous that Lyserg was stealing away his girl, often accompanied them as Lyserg took them to galleries, museums, parks, all sorts of things. He started to suspect after awhile that Kat's distain was a way to tease him as much as it was real, but it was hard to tell with her.

"The biggest problem with this place is there's too many damned people." Kat commented one day.

"What do you mean?" Lyserg was confused, of course there were a lot of people, but it had never seemed too crowded to him.

"I grew up on a ranch, where you didn't see another human being, or another building for as far as the eye could see." Kat explained, her eyes going distant with melancholy. "There's just not enough open space here."

"I agree with Kat." Hao had added. "I may not hate humans with a passion anymore, but I still don't like being around so many people." Lyserg shrugged, sensing this was one argument he wasn't going to be winning anytime soon. Kat was currently helping him with an English assignment, and Hao was sitting next to her, arm around her waist possessively. From the annoyed look on Kat's face, she wasn't enjoying his closeness at this time.

"Hao, we need to do groceries, why don't you come with me?" Yoh asked from the doorway. Hao looked up, frowning, but something in Yoh's eyes told him that he should go. Reluctantly he got up, bestowing a quick kiss to Kat's cheek, and got on his shoes and jacket.

"Why did you want me to come with you?" Hao asked as they set out for the grocery store.

"Because Kat was getting ready to kill you." Yoh answered. Hao gave him a confused look. Yoh sighed. "You've got to give her some space, you're smothering her."

"What do you mean?" Hao asked.

"You're all over her, all the time, she needs some time alone and I think she's getting sick of this jealousy thing too." Yoh explained. "I know you love her, but you also need to give her space to breathe, and stop worrying about her spending time with Lyserg."

"He spends so much time around her though." Hao countered.

"He's getting homework advice, and I think he thinks she's too old for him anyways."

"Kat's not old!" Hao protested.

"She's twenty-one, and he's sixteen, that's old to him." Yoh replied. "You have nothing to worry about, Lyserg's just glad to have someone to hang around with, he's been lonely out here."

"Mm, I suppose I'll back off then." Hao grudgingly relented. "Have I really been so... clingy?"

"A little." Yoh admitted. "I think it's just a product of not having any idea of how to approach relationships anymore, which is why Kat's put up with it for so long."

"So she's considered dumping me?" Hao asked with dismay.

"No, just hitting you." Yoh answered.

"Ok, that I would be fine with." Hao said. "At least then I'd know I'd done something wrong, but she hasn't said a word to me about this."

"I think she's been hoping that it'll blow over, but you should let her know that she needs to talk to you if something's bothering her." Yoh said as they walked into the grocery store. "A good relationship has good communication as a firm foundation, or so kaa-san says."

"In that case, I think you're relationship, or lack their of, with Anna was doomed from the start." Hap observed wryly.

"Oh, I knew that from the start. The only reason we were together was because of my family." Yoh replied, picking out tomatoes. "I kind of resigned myself to a loveless marriage. My consolation was that we would have a child, and I could dote on them."

"I think you'd make a great father." Hao complimented genuinely. With Yoh's gentle nature and kind heart, he would be a wonderful role model.

"Thanks Hao." Yoh replied distractedly, looking at the boxes of cereal.

"Get something that doesn't have all that sugar, it makes my teeth ache." Hao complained.

"You are picky, aren't you?" Yoh admonished playfully as he selected just some simple Cheerios. "I suppose it's better to go healthy though."

"Modern man and its preoccupation with fat and sugar." Hao muttered as they exited the grocery store.

"It tastes good, that's why they like it." Yoh shrugged. "I'm partial to cheeseburgers myself, but they're strictly a treat every once in awhile. You should try fast food sometime, you might like it." Yoh giggled as Hao wrinkled his nose in distaste. "Hey, don't knock it until you've tried it, as Kat might say."

Hao chuckled in response and then all the sudden he pulled Yoh into a nearby alley. "What's-" Hao cut Yoh off by pushing a hand over his mouth. Yoh blinked in surprise, and Hao turned his head gently so that he was looking out of the alley. He let out a muffled yelp as Marco and the Iron Maiden walked by across the street.

When they were gone Hao removed his hand. "What the hell are they doing here?" He growled.

"Do you think they know we're here?" Yoh asked worriedly.

"I can't think of how they would." Hao replied. "Come on, act natural, we don't want to call attention to ourselves." The two of them stepped out of the alley and joined the crowd, hoping that the constantly shifting throng of people would keep them hidden from the X-Laws' eyes.

They made it back to the house, just as Lyserg was getting ready to leave. "Wait a second Lyserg, we need to talk to you." Yoh said, halting Lyserg in his tracks.

"What is it, Yoh?" Lyserg asked, blinking in confusion at the worried look on his friend's face.

"The X-Laws are in town." Hao answered. "Do you know anything about that?" Lyserg bristled.

"Are you suggesting that I've betrayed-"

"No one's accusing anyone of anything." Yoh interjected. "We just want to know if you have any idea of why they might be here."

"Oh... they do know where I live. They might be coming to see me." Lyserg suggested. "Do you think they know you're here?" Hao shook his head, but his eyes betrayed slight anxiety. "Should I still go home?"

"Yes, if they are here to see you, and you're not there, they may get suspicious." Hao told him. Lyserg nodded and headed out the door.

"You think that we'll have to move again?" Kat asked, coming to stand in the living room doorway.

"I don't know." Hao replied. He put the groceries he had away in the kitchen and then caught her in his arms. "I need to talk to you." She allowed him to steer her back into the living room, where he sat her down on the couch. "You've been annoyed with me." Hao stated bluntly. She blinked at him and frowned slightly. "You have, and I should have noticed."

"You have been awfully clingy, especially when Lyserg's been around." Kat admitted.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Hao asked. "You've always made it perfectly clear when you're not pleased with something, so why not now?" Kat shrugged her shoulders.

"I was hoping the problem would go away on its own as you realized that you didn't need to be jealous of Lyserg." She answered. "Though I have felt like hitting you for the last couple days, and I'm not sure how much longer I'd have had before I snapped." She admitted sheepishly.

"Talk to me." Hao said. "Isn't that what you told me? I need to know that I'm making you uncomfortable. I have no idea how to do all this relationship stuff anymore, remember?" Kat nodded her head and leaned up to kiss him gently on the lips.

"Well, that's one crisis averted." She murmured. Hao chuckled.

"Let's hope the other is just as easily solved."

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Wolf: Review plz!


	20. Chapter 20

Wolf: I own nothing!

Lyserg's nerves were shot as soon as he walked in his apartment door. He had been thinking about meeting the X-Laws the whole walk home, going over scenarios in his mind, and none of them were very comforting. What if he gave into their views on the world again? What if he betrayed Yoh, Kat ...and Hao too? What if he rejected them, and they killed him for it. He was a nervous wreck as he attempted to go about a normal routine.

He was just boiling a pot of water for some soothing tea when the buzzer rang for his door. He got up and looked out the little peephole. Sure enough, Marco and Lady Jeanne were standing there. Lyserg inhaled deeply, trying to calm his racing heart, and then opened the door.

"What a surprise, I wasn't expecting to see you here." Lyserg said in a tone of gentle confusion.

"There are things that we must discuss." Marco replied, shoving his glasses up his nose. He pushed his way inside without being invited and stood by the threadbare, small couch in the living room. Lady Jeanne followed, sitting down daintily on the couch and looking at Lyserg expectantly.

"Would you two like some tea?" Lyserg asked as the kettle began to whistle in earnest. Marco shook his head.

"This is not a social call." He insisted.

"Then why are you here?" Lyserg asked conversationally, pouring water in a mug for himself along with the tea bag.

"Hao is alive." Lyserg paused, making it look like he was shocked. In reality he was gearing up for the best acting he would ever have to do.

"Are you sure about that?" He whispered, turning around and looking at Marco with wide eyes.

"Yes. We found him in Canada, at a horse ranch of all places." Marco chuckled nastily and Lyserg had to resist the urge to hit him for what he did to Kat. "We made sure he couldn't hide there anymore, but now we don't know where he's gone this time."

"I am certain I sensed him in this city." Lady Jeanne interjected. "I do not remember where it was however, and I did not see him."

"And we will scour this city for him before moving on." Marco stated. "But that was not why we came originally."

"So why did you come?" Lyserg asked in genuine confusion.

"Since Hao is still at large, we feel that it is in your best interest to rejoin the X-Laws." Marco said with a small smirk. "Since we are the only ones that will be able to destroy Hao, what do you say?"

"I say no." Lyserg replied. Marco nearly dropped his glasses, and even Lady Jeanne looked mildly surprised.

"What?" Marco stared incredulously at him. "Why?"

"Because it won't stop after Hao. You'll want to kill anyone with a connection to him, and then anyone who doesn't agree with your way of doing things, which may happen to be people that I consider friends." Lyserg replied. "I don't want to be drawn into that world again."

"You are being foolish, Lyserg." Jeanne chided in her usual, emotionless tone. "I assume that Yoh Asakura is not included in your definition of 'friends' any longer, as you should know that he has been changed into a monster."

"And then gone on to join Hao." Marco growled. "Shame, he may have been able to have a swift death, but now he will have to be punished for his betrayal." Lyserg's blood ran cold at the callous, cold tone of Marco's voice. No way was he letting these two torturers get their hands on Yoh, Kat or even Hao.

"I am not being foolish, this is my decision, and you can't force me to do what I don't believe in." Lyserg replied.

"This is your only chance to get Hao back for what he did to us, to you!" Marco snarled. "How else will you find peace, if you haven't avenged your parents' deaths?" Lyserg stared at him a moment and realized something. He'd already found peace, without even noticing it.

"I guess I'll have to find my own way to find peace." He said instead though. "I have homework still to finish, if there wasn't something else..." He trailed off, looking at the two of them expectantly. Lady Jeanne sniffed disdainfully and stood up. Marco followed her to the door and then paused, pulling a small piece of paper from his pocket.

"This is our card, if you change your mind." He said with a superior smirk, and then shut the door behind him. Lyserg collapsed on the couch, going limp with relief. He sat there for a moment and then sprang to his feet. He had to warn Yoh, Hao and Kat!

His hand was on the doorknob when he stopped himself. If he went out now, he might just be leading the X-Laws straight to them. He couldn't call either, he didn't think Hao even had a phone installed in the house. He would have to wait until tomorrow and go after school, hoping in the meantime that the X-Laws hadn't found them already.

%&%&%&%

Lyserg barely made it through his school day without having a full-blown panic attack. He needed to make sure they were all right! Somehow he made it to the end of the day and escaped the school, running the full way to Hao's house.

Pounding on the door, he stared around frantically, terrified that the X-Laws had been watching him all along and were now waiting for the right moment to attack. When Yoh opened the door, he rushed inside and shut it quickly.

"Lyserg, what's wrong?" Yoh asked worriedly, watching as Lyserg gasped for air. "Did you run all the way here?" Lyserg nodded, still trying to get his breath back. "Come into the kitchen and get a drink of water, you look like you're about to collapse." Lyserg nodded again and allowed himself to be led into the kitchen.

"What happened to you, greenie?" Kat asked when she saw him. "You're sweating like a pig."

"Just give him a second, he ran all the way here." Yoh said, getting Lyserg a cup of water.

"Must have something important to tell us then." Hao commented, coming into the kitchen with his hair damp. Lyserg nodded vigorously, swallowing his water.

"The X-Laws know you're in the city!" He stammered. In the stunned silence that followed he told them about the whole conversation from yesterday.

"Do you think it's possible they just won't be able to find us?" Kat asked hopefully.

"I doubt it." Hao replied. "These people are single-minded, they won't stop until they have me." He sighed. "It looks like we have two options. Stay here, be found and wind up with someone dead, or leave and hope they don't find us wherever we go."

"Wait, wind up with someone dead?" Kat asked.

"It's the only way a confrontation between us and them will end. Either they kill all of us, or we wind up killing them." Hao explained.

"I'd rather not go the killing route, if you don't mind." Yoh said quietly.

"As would I." Hao sighed. "Killing solves nothing, and from now on I'd prefer to use it only as a last resort."

"So then you'll be leaving?" Lyserg asked, voice heavy with disappointment. Hao smiled slightly at him.

"I think that's probably the best course of action." He replied. "The problem is finding a place that they wouldn't think to look."

"Well, we tried being unpredictable already." Yoh said. "They'd expect us to think like that, avoid places that they would associate with us. So, let's be predictable. Go somewhere where they would expect we'd want to go."

"That... actually makes a lot of sense." Hao admitted. "Go where we'd be expected to go, because that would be what they're not expecting."

"Precisely." Yoh grinned. "So, what place do you think I'm thinking that we should hide in?" Hao thought a moment before a grin spread across his face.

"We're going back to Japan."

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Wolf: Review plz!


	21. Chapter 21

Wolf: I own nothing!

"So, you guys are really leaving?" Lyserg asked forlornly, helping get rid of anything in the fridge that would go bad.

"Yeah, it's not safe for us here." Yoh replied. "It's not really safe for us anywhere, but we'll get by somehow."

"I wish you guys weren't going." Lyserg admitted. "It'll be lonely without you. Can't I come with?"

"No, Lyserg." Hao answered from the doorway, a rolling suitcase clutched in his one hand. "It's not safe for you, and I won't have anyone else dragged into this mess." He said fiercely.

"Okay..." Lyserg sighed in defeat.

"Do you have an email, greenie?" Kat asked. Lyserg nodded his head. "Well, write it down for us, and we'll keep in touch with you, let you know what's going on with us, how does that sound?"

"I guess it's better than nothing." Lyserg shrugged. Kat looked down at her watch.

"We'd better head out, our train leaves soon." She said.

"You're taking the train?" Lyserg asked in confusion.

"Just out to the country." Hao explained. "Then we'll hop on Spirit of Fire, and head over to Tokyo."

"Wow, you're really taking this hiding in plain sight seriously." Hao chuckled and nodded an affirmative. "I'm going to miss you guys, all of you." Lyserg said, resting his eyes on Hao the longest. Hao gave him a slightly shy smile in return. He wasn't entirely comfortable around Lyserg, and knew Lyserg felt the same way, so having him say that was heart-warming, to say the least.

"We'll miss you too, Lyserg." Kat said, enveloping the younger boy in a warm hug, kissing the top of his head. "Make sure you're keeping up with your schoolwork, ok?"

"Okay." Lyserg sniffled a little and swiped at his eyes, embarrassed that he was getting all emotional. Kat gave him another hug and Yoh gave him as well. Even Hao clapped Lyserg on the shoulder in a friendly way as they headed out the door and to the train station.

The ride didn't take them long and soon they were deep in the country where they wouldn't be seen. "I don't know how well you remember the trip the last time on Spirit of Fire." Hao said as he summoned the massive spirit. Kat's jaw dropped at the immensity of it. "By your expression I'd say you don't remember much at all."

Kat shook her head, looking a little nervous as the Spirit of Fire lowered its huge, clawed hand down to them. "He won't hurt you." Hao said, stepping onto the hand and gently coaxing Kat to do the same.

"He? How can you tell?" Kat asked, looking at the Spirit of Fire dubiously.

"I can't. But fire has always been associated with the male, gods, spirits and so forth, so I refer to it as male." Hao explained as the Spirit of fire lifted them onto his head. Kat clutched at him as the Spirit of Fire began to fly over the land.

"I suppose I never mentioned that I don't much like flying." She murmured, hiding her face in Hao's jacket. Hao chuckled and held her close for the entire ride.

By the time they had arrived in Japan, both Yoh and Kat were fast asleep. Hao disliked having to wake the two of them when they looked so peaceful, but they still had to take a train into the city, where the house was. He gently rubbed Kat's back to draw her out of sleep while shaking Yoh's shoulder lightly.

"Mmm, whazhappening?" Yoh mumbled as he blinked his eyes opened.

"We've arrived." Hao replied as Kat yawned, stretching herself out. They hiked over to the nearby train station and got on the train into Tokyo. It took another couple hours, and Hao having to shake his companions awake yet again, but they finally came to the small, but elegant house that Hao had told them about. As soon as the door shut behind them, they all conked out, dead tired.

When Kat awoke the next morning, she found herself pinned against a warm body, a strong arm wrapped around her waist. Blinking open her eyes blearily, she looked to see Hao's sleeping face next to hers. They seemed to be on a couch, but were curled up oddly. Kat saw the reason why when she lifted her head; Yoh was curled up on the other end of the couch. Obviously they had all been too tired to try and find a bed to sleep in.

She yawned and delicately untangled herself from Hao's embrace. She padded quietly over to the kitchen and began looking in the cupboards and fridge. "There's not a lot, I know." Hao's voice made her straighten. He was sitting up on the couch, clothes rumpled and hair a mess; he looked like a little kid, almost. "We'll have to go shopping for the necessities."

"Hmm..." Kat looked out the window and sighed at the sight of buildings stretching into the horizon. "More cities." She sighed. "God, I miss country life." Hao moved then, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her close.

"I know, but a city is easier to hide in." He replied, lightly kissing the nape of her neck.

"Are we close to my old home?" Yoh's voice drifted over to them. He was sitting up on the couch, rubbing at his eyes. "I think I recognised some of the buildings last night."

"We're about two kilometres or so from the inn that you called home." Hao answered. "I got this place not long after you moved in so that I could pop in and keep an eye on your progress. We're far enough away that it's highly unlikely that we'll run into anyone we know when out doing errands. Hopefully, we'll be able to stay here."

%&%&%&%

Yoh was being walked by Kat. It was almost winter time; he could feel and smell the chill in the air with his sensitive wolf's nose. The other smells of the city were interesting as well, and Yoh took as much time as Kat would allow him to sniff at everything he could. Although he disliked the leash and collar, he knew it was necessary and behaved while he was on-leash.

All the sudden he lifted his head and paused, nose twitching in the air. He knew where he was, he wasn't far from the cemetery. His heart ached and he felt an intense longing to go see if Amidamaru was there. Kat gently tugged on the leash when she noticed he wasn't coming.

"Come on Yoh, it's time to go home." She said. But Yoh didn't want to go home. He wanted to see Amidamaru, wanted to know if he was afraid of him, or if he felt betrayed that Yoh had left him, or if he was just waiting for him to come home. He lunged forward, yanking the leash out of Kat's hands and took off down the street.

"Yoh!" he heard Kat's frantic call, but did not stop. He stayed moving slow enough that she would be able to keep up, but not that she could catch him. He ran all the way to the cemetery, through the crowds of ghosts that called it home and then halted as he got to the bridge that would lead him to Amidamaru's grave marker.

"Yoh!" Yoh felt Kat pick up his leash and then he was cuffed over the head. He yelped and spun to face Kat. "Don't you ever do that again!" Kat cried. "You nearly scared me half to death." Yoh whined in apology. "What was so important that you ran off?" Kat asked. Yoh tugged at the leash, asking her to take him across the bridge where he could now see a lone human spirit staring broodingly up at the sky.

Kat took the hint and walked across the bridge with Yoh. Yoh's heart pounded, if this didn't go right, they'd probably have to move again, but he had to know if Amidamaru still believed in him. Amidamaru turned at the footsteps, looking at Kat with disinterest. He didn't notice Yoh until he barked. Amidamaru looked then, and his eyes widened.

"Yoh?" The samurai spirit whispered. Yoh wagged his tail and took a step forward, which prompted Amidamaru to float backwards a little. Yoh whined and his ears drooped in disappointment, misery taking over him. Amidamaru paused at the sight, and that was when Kat decided to intervene.

"You're Amidamaru, aren't you? Yoh's spirit guardian." She said.

"Yes, and who might you be?" Amidamaru asked politely.

"I'm Kat. I'm a friend of Yoh's. You don't have to be scared of him. He might be wearing a fur coat, but he's still Yoh, still got his human mind."

"He does?" Kat nodded and Amidamaru crouched down to look Yoh in the eyes. Yoh blinked up at him, tail wagging tentatively. "Oh, Yoh. I'm so sorry I doubted you, my friend." Yoh yipped happily and bounced on his paws, rearing up to place his front paws on Amidamaru's chest, whining happily. "Well, he's certainly as enthusiastic in his affections as he always was."

"Try getting licked by him, it's like having a bath." Kat chuckled.

"What's going on here?" Yoh froze and turned around, looking up in dismay at Ren and Horohoro. He wagged his tail and moved slowly towards them, hoping they would see he meant no harm.

"Aw, crap, he's going to eat us!" Horohoro yelped instead, getting out his Ikupasui and obviously preparing his Oversoul. Before he could do so, Kat had stomped up behind him, smacking him upside the head.

"You idiot! If he was carnivorous, I'd be dead by now." Kat said, holding up the leash that was attached to Yoh. Horohoro rubbed his head, looking back and forth between the strange woman and the wolf that was Yoh. Yoh sat down and tilted his head at his friends.

"He's not a monster?" Ren asked quietly. Kat snorted.

"Hardly." She said. "He retains his human mind in this form, though he does like to goof off while he is, don't you, you hairball?" Yoh let out an indignant yip, giving her a look.

"Then why didn't he just explain the situation in the first place, instead of running off?" Horohoro demanded. Kat sighed and looked at Yoh, who lowered his ears and whined.

"That's not for me to tell." She replied and then thought for a moment. "Do either of you know the Mcdonalds a few blocks from here?" They both nodded. "Why don't we meet there, tomorrow at about noon, just the two of you." She said fiercely. "We can discuss things then. But, make no mistake, we will be watching, and if we think something is amiss, we'll be gone like that. Understood?"

"Of course." Ren sniffed.

"Excellent." Kat said. "Now, if you'll excuse us, it's getting late and I'd like to get to bed at a decent time." She tugged Yoh away, who woofed at them by way of goodbye as they headed back into the night.

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Wolf: Review plz!


	22. Chapter 22

Wolf: I own nothing!

"Absolutely not!" Hao stated fiercely when he was told of Kat and Yoh's plan the next morning before dawn. "You'd be playing right into their hands."

"Hao this is an opportunity. Better to have allies than enemies." Kat argued. "They said they'd tell no one."

"And do you believe them?" At this Yoh lifted his head from the cushion that he was resting it on and nodded vigorously. "Of course you believe them, otouto." Hao sighed. "You want to trust everyone, but this is reality, and I don't trust it one bit. You know what the Asakuras have planned for him!"

"Yes, but Yoh's friends don't know that." Kat reminded him. "If they did, they'd probably still defend him, based on the way Yoh's described them to me." Yoh let out a groan, cutting the conversation short as his body contorted and twisted back into human shape. Kat politely turned her face away from his naked body while Hao ran to get the blushing boy some clothes.

"The only reason my friends were scared of me before was because they thought I was a monster." Yoh explained as he pulled on his shirt and pants. "Last night, once they figured out that I wasn't, they weren't scared anymore, but they were confused. I think I owe them an explanation."

"I still don't like it." Hao grumbled.

"That's because you're a big stubborn fool sometimes." Kat replied, but she smiled and rubbed her nose against his as she said it, telling him that she was only teasing. He sighed and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close. "We'll make sure before we go in that they came alone as we asked, does that sound safe to you?"

"I'm going with you." He said. She gave him a look.

"Now that is truly a bad idea." She stated.

"I agree with Kat." Yoh added. "If they see you..."

"I won't let them see me." Hao replied. "I'll go in before they arrive and sit in a corner somewhere where I won't be seen. That way I can keep an eye on you both while you're meeting with them." Kat thought about that for a moment.

"That sounds fair." She shrugged. "But, make sure they don't see you." She warned him.

%&%&%&%

Yoh and Kat waited across the street from the Mcdonalds, watching for Ren and Horohoro. Yoh fidgeted, agitated at the thought of the meeting ahead. A hand on the top of his head made him pause. "Relax..." Kat coaxed. "We'll be fine." Yoh sighed.

"There's so many ways this could go wrong, though." Yoh groaned. "What if they do bring someone else? What if they see Hao? What if-"

"What if the sky falls down or a tsunami hits." Kat interrupted. "Don't 'what if' yourself Yoh, you're only going to make yourself sick. Focus on what can go right instead of what can go wrong." She said, ruffling his hair fondly. He smiled gratefully at her and then turned his attention back to the street.

"Oh, there they are!" He whispered. "Looks like they're alone." Kat nodded in agreement. The two boys had come alone, except for of course the two spirits she could trailing behind them.

"That's a big fellow, isn't he?" She commented.

"That's Bason. He's Ren's partner." Yoh explained. Kat nodded her head in understanding. "Should we go in?"

"Yeah, let's go." Kat and Yoh walked across the street and into the fast food restaurant. Ren and Horohoro were sitting in a booth by the door, both on the same side of the booth. Kat looked around and found Hao hiding in the far corner, watching them with dark, wary eyes. Yoh slid into the booth across from his friends, and Kat dropped down beside him.

"Hey, guys." Yoh said with a generous smile. Kat watched as both boys visibly relaxed at the sight of that smile. Kat relaxed a little as well.

"Hey, Yoh." Horohoro replied, sounding a little unsure still. "So, that was really you last night?" Yoh nodded his head. "How come you never came back and told us that you were still, you know, you?"

"Yes, why did you feel the need to run away? We would have understood." Ren said with characteristic callousness, but beneath the uncaring facade Yoh could detect a note of hurt in his voice.

"I'm sorry guys." He said quietly. "I did go back the next morning, but..." He trailed off, biting his lip. It was still hard to talk about this. "When I went back to the inn to explain things, I heard my grandfather talking. He said that they had been planning to kill me anyways, and that me becoming a werewolf was the perfect cover for it."

"Why would they want to kill you, dude?" Horohoro asked, brows furrowing together in confusion.

"They said that I was too dangerous to keep around, after all, I was still Hao's 'other half'." Yoh said with uncharacteristic bitterness in his voice. "It didn't matter that I'd gone against everything I believe in to kill him, they're going to kill me anyways, so Hao can't use me."

"Unbelievable." Horohoro whispered.

"I can understand their rationale." Ren stated. "Though their fears are vastly unfounded. If Hao could actually use you, you would have been absorbed by him in the tournament."

"True, but that doesn't seem to concern them." Yoh said, looking down at the table.

"One other question, Yoh." Ren said after a moment.

"Shoot." Yoh said with a shrug.

"How long am I supposed to ignore Hao sitting there in the corner?" Ren jerked his head at Hao's corner. Yoh blinked in surprise and Kat raised an eyebrow, a faint smirk appearing on her face. She gave Hao a 'come-hither' gesture. Hao stood up and walked over to their table. Kat observed him idly as he did so, seeing the grace in his walk, but also a certain amount of discomfort in his growing body. He and Yoh were about four inches taller than her now, and still growing.

Yoh and Kat shifted over, allowing Hao to slide into the booth next to him. Ren gave Hao a hard stare, while Horohoro pushed himself as far back as he could from Hao, looking distinctly nervous. "How did you know he was here, Ren?" Horohoro demanded. "I didn't see him."

"That's because you're an idiot and don't look." Ren replied disdainfully. Horohoro growled at him and huffed, looking like a petulant child. Yoh chuckled, thankful that things hadn't changed that much in his absence.

"Why are you here?" Ren demanded, cutting straight to the chase. Hao shrugged nonchalantly, sliding an arm around Kat's shoulders, pulling her nearer to him.

"Someone has to look after these two." He replied quietly. Ren blinked at that and Horohoro's mouth hung open at the sight of Hao Asakura's arm wrapped around a human girl. Smiling wickedly, Kat turned her head to give Hao a light peck on the cheek, a move guaranteed to confuse them further.

"But... but she's... she's human!" Horohoro finally gasped out. "How?"

"I'll start from the beginning." Yoh offered and then proceeded to tell the story of how he came to Kat's home, how Hao arrived and stayed there, and then how they had to flee. Ren watched as Hao brushed away a stray tear that slipped from Kat's eye when Yoh told them about how the X-Laws burned down her home and then lean down to whisper something in her ear.

"I find it difficult to believe a human would hold your interest." Ren stated bluntly when Yoh was finished.

"How could she not, when she was not intimidated and unimpressed by me, and kept me guessing." Hao replied. "She treated me like she would anyone else, and I guess I was impressed by her. After a little time, impressed became smitten." He said, lifting one of Kat's hands to kiss the back of her palm. She giggled and kissed his cheek again.

"If Yoh says he's changed, then I believe it." Horohoro piped up. "I trust his judgement, don't you?" He asked Ren.

"I have questioned it in the past, but he has always proved my concerns unfounded, so yes, I do trust his judgement." Ren replied. "Your other friends are going to want to know you're alright." He informed Yoh. Yoh nodded his head slowly.

"Do you think you could get them to come to the cemetery tonight, the ones you think will accept this, I mean?" He asked.

"Before dark, I'm assuming." Ren replied. When Yoh nodded he looked thoughtful. "I suppose I could round them up. You know, Faust has stayed these last several months, hoping you'd return instead of going back to his home." Yoh bowed his head, overwhelmed by his friends' faith in him.

"Well, he'll be able to stop waiting tonight."

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Wolf: Review plz!


	23. Chapter 23

Wolf: I own nothing!

"Why exactly are we out here?" Manta sighed, looking around the cemetery at the rest of his friends assembled. He disliked coming here now, because it reminded him too much of Yoh and so he just wanted to leave.

"You'll see soon." Ren replied shortly, scanning the hillside for the three people they were up here to meet. He growled in impatience. The sun would go down soon! They had be here any minute now.

"Hey! I think that's them!" Horohoro called.

"That's who?" Ryu asked. Ren ignored him in favour of watching the three figures making their way up to the hilltop. All the sudden one of them looked up, saw all the people standing up at the top and broke into a run, leaving the other two behind. Footsteps pounded on the wooden bridge and Manta let out a startled shriek as he was lifted off his feet and into the air.

"Manta!" The familiar voice made Manta stop squirming and instead crane his neck to look up into Yoh's jubilant face.

"Yoh? Oh my god, Yoh!" Manta cried, wrapping his arms as far as they would go around his best friend's shoulders while Yoh laughed happily. "I've missed you so much!"

"I missed you too, Manta." Yoh was then grabbed from behind by Ryu and lifted off the ground in a bear hug.

"Yoh, you came back!" He crowed. "I knew you hadn't abandoned us!" Yoh laughed and squirmed out of his hold, setting Manta back down on the ground.

"Thank you, for having faith in me." He told them.

"We knew that someday you'd come back." Faust said in his whispery voice.

"You're not really a monster like they keep telling us, right?" Manta asked worriedly, watching the setting sun. Yoh chuckled.

"No, the only thing that happens when the full moon comes is that I get a new body for the night. I still keep my human mind, so there's nothing for you guys to worry about."

"Then why did you not come back and tell us that?" Faust asked. Yoh was about to answer but then his body contorted as the sun dipped below the horizon. He shook himself off when the change was done, and looked up to see the reaction of his friends.

"That sounded like it hurt." Ryu said with a mildly sick look on his face. Yoh shook his head.

"It doesn't hurt?" Manta confirmed. Yoh nodded his head.

"Probably a natural painkiller in the body." Faust mused, reaching down to pat Yoh's head, to his delight. Yoh wriggled happily and bounced around the hill, to the amusement of his friends.

"Hold still for five seconds you furball!" Kat yelled at him as she held up the collar. Yoh galloped over to her and sat down, looking at her expectantly.

"What's with the collar?" Manta asked.

"So he doesn't get picked up by animal control or something." Kat answered. "I'm Kat, by the way. Been looking after this hairball for the last little while."

"So, why did Yoh run away?" Ryu asked as Yoh settled down on the ground, yawning widely.

"He found out that his family had planned to kill him all along." Ren answered.

"What?" Faust looked confused. "Why would they do that?"

"Because Yoh is Hao's 'other half' and that it was too dangerous to keep him alive, even if Hao was gone." Kat replied, rubbing the top of Yoh's head. "Fools, I say. Yoh's got to be the kindest person I've ever met."

"Once again Hao has messed up Yoh's life." Ryu growled. Yoh lifted his head and shook it.

"It's not Hao's fault what other people choose to believe." Kat replied.

"What would you know about Hao?" Faust asked, merely curious.

"Plenty." She looked over to the other side of the bridge, where she could make out the outline of Hao waiting there. "Well, you going to stand there all night?" She called. He shifted slightly and then walked across the bridge, the moonlight lighting his features as he did so.

"Hao!" Manta squeaked, backing up until he hit Amidamaru's grave marker. Faust and Ryu stared, along with Amidamaru. Yoh, however, wagged his tail and launched himself at his brother in a full-body tackle, knocking him to the ground where he proceeded to attempt to lick his face off.

"Eww, Yoh that's gross." Hao complained, pushing Yoh's muzzle away from him. Yoh yipped and allowed Hao to get to his feet. Yoh looked around and saw that the hostile and frightened looks on his friends' faces had melted into confusion and felt hope.

"I think that we need to hear what Yoh's been up to these last several months since we last saw him." Faust stated calmly. Hao nodded his head in assent, wiping his face clean of wolf drool. He sat up, crossing his legs and leaning against the trunk of the tree behind him. Kat sat down beside him, allowing him to hook his arm around her waist.

Yoh wandering over to lie down beside Hao and Manta nervously sat down on his other side and tentatively ran a hand over the fur on Yoh's back. Ryu and Faust both sat down while Amidamaru hovered over his grave stone. Ren and Horohoro took up posts watching the cemetery to make sure they didn't get any unexpected company.

Kat and Hao took turns explaining all that had been happening with Yoh and with them since the time that Yoh first turned into a werewolf. Yoh's friends listened in silence, not interrupting as the two brought the tale to an end.

"Wow, all that in only a few months. That's crazy." Manta commented when they fell silent finally.

"It feels crazy." Kat agreed.

"It's incredible what lengths the X-Laws will go to." Faust sighed. "You poor girl." Kat lowered her head, but said nothing.

"So, I'm guessing that you can't come back to the inn with us, not with so many people after you." Ryu asked Yoh. Yoh nodded his head. "Can we visit with you?"

"Of course." Kat answered. "We'll give you our address, and I have an email account we can get you guys to keep in touch with us with."

"So it doesn't concern you, that I am with them?" Hao asked.

"We trust Yoh." Faust replied. "We will continue to trust his judgement, even if we don't always understand it."

%&%&%&%

A couple of weeks passed, and they were starting to get comfortable in their new situation. Yoh's friends often came over to the house, or they would go out to meet them somewhere. Hao was slowly getting used to the idea of having people as friends, and getting better at the whole relationship thing with Kat. They'd even had a couple of dates and each, unbeknownst to the other, found themselves contemplating the idea of a sexual as well as an emotional relationship.

"Hey, guys, come here!" Kat called, looking at the computer.

"What is it?" Hao asked, wiping his hands clean of soapy dish water.

"Lyserg says he's in town." Kat replied. "Wants us to meet him in the cemetery tonight, pretty late it looks like." Yoh peered at the screen.

"Why so late?" He asked. "Oh, wait. His flight doesn't get in until late."

"Strange that he would make the trip out here, though." Hao mused. "I think we should be cautious about this, just in case."

%&%&%&%

They walked through the quiet cemetery at nearly one o'clock in the morning. "Anybody else feeling a little creeped out?" Kat whispered, hearing nothing from the resident ghosts, who were normally out and chatting freely at night.

"I don't like this." Hao murmured back, instantly on high alert. Suddenly they saw Lyserg ahead, resting against a grave marker. As they got up close, they realized that something was very wrong. Lyserg looked up at them, his face bruised and swollen from crying.

"I'm so sorry." He whimpered. Before anyone could ask him what he meant, they were attacked from behind.

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Wolf: Review plz!


	24. Chapter 24

Wolf: I own nothing!

Hao was just able to dodge out of the way of both Shamash and Michael. The X-Laws stepped out of the shadows, along with Mikihisa and Yohmei, and Anna. All of them had spirits ready to battle, and they had Yoh, Kat and Hao surrounded.

"Damn it!" Hao swore angrily. He should have been paying attention. There was no time now to think about that because Michael and Shamash were attacking him again, and he wasn't about to let them hurt Kat.

Yoh had his own hands full. Because he didn't have Harusame, he couldn't go on the offensive with an Oversoul, and he couldn't even use Amidamaru's knowledge to fight back. All he could do was to use Soul Integration and dodge the attacks levelled on him by his father, grandfather and Anna.

"Why are you doing this?" He cried, trying to reason with them.

"You have been seduced by Hao. You will be destroyed along with him." Yohmei replied calmly.

"I have not been seduced by Hao." Yoh said, jumping back to avoid getting caught by Anna's beads. "He came to us, and he's joined us." Yoh tried to explain. "Look around you for a moment! Hao's trying to protect Kat, and she's human!" But it seemed that none of them were in a listening mood, and Yoh was beginning to tire...

A blast of furyiochu knocked his father's spirits aside as they were about to cut into him. Ren, Horohoro, Ryu, and Faust arrived on the scene, putting themselves between Yoh and his family.

"Looks like you could use a hand." Horohoro commented. Yoh nodded gratefully and took Harusame from Faust's offered hand. He and the others faced down his family, arranging themselves in a wedge that would prevent any badly aimed attacks from hitting Kat or Lyserg. Yoh spared a moment to look at how Hao was doing, but he seemed to be repelling the attacks made by the X-Laws alright. He had a feeling that his family would do everything in their power to stop him from going to help Hao even if Hao looked like he needed help.

"Strange how Yoh's friends trust him more than his own family." Ren called out the Asakuras they were fighting.

"You are fools for trusting him." Yohmei replied. Ren shrugged and went back to defending his friends against attacks.

Hao could see that Yoh was getting assistance out of the corner of his eye and sighed inwardly in relief; one less person for him to have to worry about while he was fighting. Kat had pressed Lyserg up against the headstone, keeping her body in front of his protectively. Her teeth were bared in a challenging snarl, but Hao could see terror in her eyes as she watched him battle with the two powerful spirits.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Lyserg kept whispering over and over, curled up on himself on the cold ground, tears running down his bruised face.

"Shh, it's okay, Lyserg." Kat said, lightly patting the top of his head. She was distracted by the battle at hand though. A sick jolt ran through her as she watched, realizing that the little girl had attacked Hao in such a way that he'd had to turn his back on Marco, and Marco was getting ready to take a shot at his exposed back.

Instinct grabbed and forced her to her feet. She charged up behind Marco and wrapped one arm around his neck, and one arm around his middle, pulling him back from behind. His shot went wild as he was overbalanced by arms made strong from farm work. He spun around though, dislodging Kat and knocking her to the ground.

"You could have spared yourself this." Marco growled, levelling the weapon at her.

BANG!

The sound of the gunshot seemed to freeze time. Marco stared, his mouth hanging open in surprise, at the weapon held in Kat's fingers. She had pulled the hidden gun from the holster around his waist when she had grabbed him. His eyes slid down to the blood that was quickly staining his white coat. A soft, wet gurgling sound escaped his throat and he fell, crumpling to the ground.

The Iron Maiden screamed in rage, the control over her emotions snapping as her last lackey fell. She turned her attack to Kat, intent on punishing the girl who'd dared to kill Marco. The Spirit of Fire swung out a hand, slicing through Shamash and then through Jeanne herself, killing her instantly as the huge claws broke nearly every bone in her body.

Whirling, Hao then carved a ring of fire around Yoh's attackers, sealing them inside, but not killing them, not yet. Yoh and his friends backed off, panting slightly. Hao ignored them in favour of running to Kat, kneeling beside her to make sure she was alright.

Her face was expressionless as she stared at the dead body of Marco. "Kat?" Hao asked, touching her shoulder. She turned towards him and he was startled to find her eyes shining with tears.

"I didn't want to kill him." She whispered. "I wanted to hurt him for what he did to me, but I never wanted to kill him."

"I know." Hao whispered back, taking her in his arms. "But, if you hadn't taken the shot, he would have killed you. Don't be too hard on yourself, ok?" Kat nodded and finally turned her face away from the body. Hao used the opportunity to quickly burn it, and the Iron Maiden's body, out of existence.

"Lyserg!" Yoh cried, remembering that his friend was still hurt. He rushed over to where Lyserg was sitting. "What happened?" Lyserg sniffled.

"They came when I wasn't expecting them to, and they saw my email, saw me writing to you guys, and they took me. They t-t-tortured me to get me to tell them where you were. I'm sorry, I couldn't.. couldn't ..." He broke down into gasping sobs. Yoh instantly pulled him into a hug, loosening his hold when Lyserg let out a whimper of pain.

"It's okay Lyserg, we understand."

"We should bring him back to the inn, I can give him a proper examination there." Faust offered.

"What about them?" Ryu asked, jerking his head at Mikihisa, Yohmei and Anna still trapped in the ring of flame. Hao thought for a moment and then looked down at his shirt. It had been ripped where Shamash had got in a swipe that had been too close for comfort. He tore three strips of cloth from it and looked around.

"Does anyone have something I can write with?" Faust pulled a pen from his pocket. Hao drew a series of symbols enclosed by a circle on each of the strips of cloth. He then walked through the barrier of fire and tied a cloth around each of the captives' necks. The symbols glowed red for an instant when he whispered and then he gestured with his hand, making the flames disappear.

"What have you done?" Yohmei demanded, attempting to take off the cloth, but finding that it would not budge.

"There's a sealing spell on that cloth, it prevents you from using your shamanic abilities." Hao informed them. "As an added bonus the cloth cannot be removed by any means except for by the one who initiated the spell in the first place." He looked smug as the three captives glared at him.

"Are we ready to go then?" Ryu asked, having hoisted Lyserg onto his back. Hao nodded and Ren, Horohoro and Yoh each took charge of one of their captives to lead them back to the inn. Yoh breathed a sigh at the sight of his old home.

"Hasn't changed." Ryu said cheerfully. "Everything's the same on the inside as well. We even managed to keep your room the same as it was." Yoh's face lit up at the mention of his room and he offered Hao and Kat a happy smile. Hao returned it, and gave him a half-hearted grin, but Yoh could tell she was battling some complicated feelings surrounding her killing of Marco.

They all piled into the inn, chattering and laughing slightly as anxiety from the battle melted away to be replaced by relief. It was Yoh who first saw the figure sitting in the dark living room. He flipped on the light switch and his eyes widened.

"Kaa-san?"

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Wolf: Review plz!


	25. Chapter 25

Wolf: I own nothing!

"Yoh!" Keiko cried joyfully, rushing towards him to enfold him in her arms. "Oh my, you've grown tall!"

"Kaa-san..." Yoh whispered again, wrapping his arms around her and resting his head on her shoulder. "I've missed you so much."

"I was so worried, and then father said that they had to kill you because you'd joined Hao..." Keiko trailed off, finally registering the other people in the room. Her confused eyes took in her father, her husband and Anna looking rumpled and angry, Lyserg half-conscious on Ryu's back, and finally, Hao standing there, looking uncomfortable.

She let go of Yoh and walked forward to stand in front of Hao. Hao looked up at her briefly, and then his eyes skittered away, clearly uncertain about the woman who had given birth to him. Those dark eyes returned to her face, startled, when Keiko cupped his face in her hands and then lightly kissed his forehead.

"Keiko!" Yohmei yelped, startled.

"If Yoh trusts him, so will I." Keiko said fiercely.

"Trust who?" Kino demanded, hobbling down the stairs. "Don't tell me, I can guess. Hao, right?"

"The old lady's smart." Hao murmured, impressed. He yelped as he was whacked in the shins by Kino's walking stick.

"Show some respect for your grandmother." Kino snapped. Kat laughed at the look on Hao's face.

"Oh, I like her!" She said. Hao gave her a reproachful look.

"Figures you would." He muttered, rubbing at his shins.

"And who might the young lady I hear be?" Kino asked.

"Kat Blackthorn, the egomaniac's girlfriend." Kino smiled slightly.

"You sound like a woman that doesn't tolerate bullshit." She chuckled. "Now, does someone want to explain what exactly is going on around here?"

"kaa-san, oba-san, you may want to sit down." Yoh advised. While Faust attended to the welts, bruises and other injuries on Lyserg's body Yoh went through the whole story again. Kino and Keiko listened silently, not saying a word until the tale drew to its close.

"The men in this family seem to be sadly lacking in the wisdom department." Kino grumbled. "I don't know how many times I've asked Yohmei what good does killing Hao do. He just would come back stronger and angrier, but no one listens to the old woman, no. And then going up against our grandsons with the X-Laws?" She sighed. "So they can't use their powers, but what do you propose we do with them?"

"I don't know." Hao answered. "They're not much of a threat without their powers."

"True enough. I suppose I could stand to keep an eye on them, back in Izumo." Kino said.

"Wait a second, Kino, you're siding with them?" Yohmei yelled. "They've all gone mad."

"You are too locked up in your own prejudices to see what's right in front of your eyes." Kino snorted. "I don't need to see to know that the madness has left Hao's heart, I can hear it in his voice. I don't need eyes to know that Kat, the girl he regards so tenderly, is completely human."

"It's a trick." Anna said sullenly.

"Perhaps you believe that because I know you don't understand love, but that is not my problem." Kino said. "I will not waste my breath lecturing any of you." She stifled a yawn. "I'll leave some spirits out to keep an eye on these two while we get some sleep."

"Sounds good." Ryu yawned and ruffled Yoh's hair as he wandered past. The rest of Yoh's friends followed, yawning as well. Yoh, Hao and Kat were the last to leave the room, but none of them had any thought of sleeping.

"Come on up to the roof." Yoh offered, sliding out of a window on the second floor. Kat and Hao followed him, sitting on the cool tiles, looking up at the stars. "It's nice to be home again." Yoh commented.

"It feels right." Kat mused quietly.

"What does?" Hao asked, slipping an arm around her.

"This place. Back at the ranch I'd walk out into the field and just breathe in the air and get this feeling, like everything was just right in the world." She explained, leaning into him. "This place feels like that." Hao thought about this for a moment.

"Yes, yes it does."

%&%&%&%

Yoh's friends woke up the next morning and filed down to the kitchen as usual. When they got there they found Kat, Hao and Yoh already awake and making breakfast. "Good morning." Yoh greeted them cheerfully.

"Hao knows how to cook?" was the first thing out of Ryu's mouth.

"You think I survived all those years alone without knowing how to cook?" Hao asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm not complaining, means I don't have to do it today." Horohoro said, plunking himself down at the table.

"Hey, if you're not going to make the food, you gotta do the clean-up later." Kat told them fiercely. "That's the law when I make food, you hear?"

"Sounds fair to me." Ren said.

"Yes, share the work, instead of making one person do it all." Faust said, casting a meaningful glance at a pissed-off Anna. Soon enough everyone was sitting down, enjoying breakfast, except the captives, who ate, but with little happiness.

"Hao, Kat, what are you planning to do now?" Keiko asked curiously. "I'm sure that Yoh will want to stay, but what about you two?"

"I was kind of thinking of sticking around, if no one has a problem with that." Kat said.

"But... I thought you wanted to go back to the mountains?" Yoh asked, confused.

"I can't very well get my teaching degree if I'm in the mountains, now can I?" Kat answered with a grin. "It's time for me to start living my life."

"Time for us to start living our lives." Hao corrected her, placing his hand over hers. "We can start anew, both of us. And if someday you feel the need to find those mountains again, I'll be right by your side."

"Until then, you are welcome in our family." Keiko told her.

"A family..." Kat repeated. "It'll be nice to have one again."

Yoh smiled at his brother and Kat, looking so peaceful with one another. Months ago he'd thought his life was ending, but it hadn't really, had it? Instead he was shown a new way of living, allowed to choose his own path and even saved a couple of lives.

If anyone had told him that his friends would be sitting around a table, chatting happily with the man that had been their greatest enemy, and that man would have his arm around a sassy, abrasive little thing of a human female, well, he would have thought they were out of their minds. But, here they were, all together, everything right in the world. And Yoh thought that maybe, just maybe, that things would be just fine from then on.

**THE END!**

Wolf: Well, that's it! Hope you all enjoyed it, thank you for reviewing and I'll have a new story up for you soon!


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